Knight and Crafter
by Kyogre
Summary: Complete. AU, implied Grayza. The story of the girl who would become Fiore's greatest knight, and the boy who made the weapons she wielded.
1. Heart and Cross

~.~.~

 **Title:** Knight and Crafter

 **Summary:** AU, Grayza. The story of a young knight, Erza, and the boy who makes her weapons, Gray.

 **Notes:** Please let me know what you think! I'm still considering how far to take this AU :)

~.~.~

 **I. Heart and Cross**

"—Is that her? She's just a kid. Did she really pass the trials?"

"—the youngest knight in Fiore's history!"

"—She beat two of the captains—"

"—an entire bandit gang with just an old sword—"

"Erza, wasn't it—"

"—bloody—"

"—a monster!"

The whispers followed Erza as she strode through the halls of the knights' headquarters. They had been following her since a knight patrol picked her up from the middle of a bandit gang's hideout, surrounded by the beaten bodies of the thieves. That had been less than a year ago, and in the time since then, she had blitzed through the training and the trials to become a full-fledged knight.

Not everyone had been happy with her, a girl of only twelve, joining their ranks, regardless of her phenomenal strength that could put grown men on their backs — had put many grown, armed men on their backs and in the infirmary when they tried to "convince" her to abandon the training and the trials, whether out of genuine concern or misplaced envy.

But Erza hadn't gone with that knight patrol to make friends. She'd gone with them because she had nowhere else to go. She didn't need their goodwill or their support. She'd learned better than to rely on anyone anyway.

Erza held her head high and lengthened her sharp stride, her oversized boots clanking heavily against the floor stones.

The door of the armory creaked as she shoved it open. There was only a moment of silence, every gaze turning onto her, before the whispers returned there as well. The man behind the counter at the front glanced at her out of his one good eye when she stalked up to him, and Erza matched his hard glare with her own one-eyed one.

"I was ordered to receive equipment from you," she said shortly and clearly, but out of sight, her hands were already clenching into fists, readying for another verbal — or even physical — fight.

The armorer slowly looked her up and down before snorting. "We don't have anything in your size," he told her flatly. There was a flutter of amused snickering from the men around them, and Erza gritted her teeth. To her surprise, the man behind the counter swept a glare over them, making many fall silent. Not that it mattered, their opinions and their noises meant little to her.

"I can use normal weapons," Erza said. "Any weapon is fine."

She received a cutting look that spoke volumes about her ignorance. "You'll have to," the man said flatly, "but I'm talking about armor. We don't have anything small enough, and armor that's too loose isn't going to do you any good. It'll just get you killed."

Armor? Erza pursed her lips, turning the thought over in her mind. She'd barely had clothes on her back, before, much less anything else. She barely had clothes now, really — her shirt, breeches, boots, everything had come from the stable boys and kitchen hands, the closest to her in age and size. And even so, everything was too big and ill-fitting.

In the training... the men trained beside her had worn leather armor, hadn't they? It had been scruffed up from use, but of good quality. She vaguely remembered a drill sergeant sneering at her that they wouldn't make special exceptions for a little girl who wanted to play at knight, and that had been the end of it. She'd done the training without armor — not that it had helped her opponents much. She'd broken the breastplates, shoulder pads, bracers and even cod pieces of several opponents clean through.

That was right. The "armor" had just caved or parted under her dull practice blade. Erza nodded to herself.

"I don't need it," she declared, with full certainty.

The man behind the counter snorted derisively. "Sure thing, kid," he muttered, already turning away.

Erza almost began to walk away, accepting the dismissal as the best outcome she could hope for, before remembering that she still hadn't received the weapons she had also been sent for. Perhaps he'd refuse to provide her those as well... but even Erza preferred not to go into battle unarmed.

Fortunately, the armorer had only been retrieving her new equipment. The sword and dagger he laid out on the counter were plain but sturdy and, as Erza when she half-drew the sword, sharp. Whet stone, polish, belt and holster — the standard issue items piled up, taking Erza by surprise.

"These are yours," the man said, and she couldn't help staring at him. It was... it was more than Erza had ever owned or been able to claim.

And then, he dropped a small, plump bag onto counter. It jingled — like money.

The armorer observed her reaction with a tightening of the lips that Erza couldn't read. Something about his demeanor seemed to loosen as he bent over, leaning closer to her. "Here, kid," he said quietly, "the knights pledged to provide arms and armor for you. We've got nothing to fit you, so you're going to have to get it yourself. This is what you'd pay to replace a standard set of armor here. Buy yourself a set somewhere else for now. It won't get you much, but it'll keep you alive until you finish a few missions and save up enough for a real set. Got it?"

Erza stared up at him in bemused silence for a moment. "...I don't need it," she repeated.

"Well, you're getting it anyway," the man told her, straightening again. "If you're one of those wild young fools that thinks first strike wins, then you can get yourself a better sword instead. It's your life."

~.~.~

She accepted the equipment and the money in the end. It was her duty as a knight, after all.

But still, this was the first time she had ever had money of her own. That presented its own problem, as Erza realized while wandering the town streets later that day. She had never bought anything either, and she had no idea how to judge whether she was being cheated or misled.

Every weapons shop and armorer she'd tried had all but laughed at her. Some had even refused to speak to her, sneering at her ill-fitting clothing. "We don't work in kids' sizes," one of them had put it. And the only weapons they agreed to sell her were so low quality she'd break them after just one strike.

Were they lying to her? Was there some trick to... haggling? Or had the man in the castle armory shortchanged her?

Glaring down at her oversized boots with a deep scowl, Erza had come to a stop without realizing. She looked up only to realize that the street around her was empty. Lost in thought, she had wandered out of the main shopping and trade districts into the poorer, deserted areas — not that she was in any danger.

It was almost sunset, the shadows long and the sky beginning to change color and darken. "I should head back," Erza mused. "It'll be curfew soon. I'll try again tomorrow."

But as she turned to head back, a small sign hanging over a small door caught her eye. It looked like a sword at first, the paint gleaming silver. But it also looked like a cross. And behind it, there was a heart just as red as Erza's hair.

"...Just one more," she decided, her feet already turning toward the shop.

There was a bell above the entrance that rang frantically as she threw open the door in her usual, forceful way. Striding up to the counter — empty — Erza scanned the narrow, cramped interior with a critical eye. There wasn't much to see, the walls almost entirely bare, and she felt a niggling of doubt in the back of her mind. Was this even a weapon shop like she'd assumed?

"O-one moment!" someone shouted from the back, and a moment later, a boy stumbled out. He was clutching at the back of his head, blinking away tears of pain.

Erza had already opened her mouth to reel off her order, but she paused at seeing him. "...Are you okay?" she asked instead, her eyes narrowing.

"Uh... Yeah. I just hit my head," the boy admitted, blinking in surprise.

He seemed sincere, and she couldn't feel the presence of anyone else in the shop. The slight tension in Erza's shoulders relaxed as she decided she wouldn't need to teach some rough shopkeeper to keep their hands to themselves. "You should be more careful," she rebuked.

The boy bristled. "I-it's because you burst in like that! You startled me!" he shot back. He clamped his mouth shut immediately, paling as he realized that he was yelling at a customer. "I-I mean... It's completely my fault, it's an honor to have you here! I'll be happy to serve you, uh, miss!"

"Good," Erza said plainly. "I need a sword. Something light but durable. This is how much I have."

She dropped the bag on money onto the counter, though in retrospect she should have just handed it to him. Neither of them could see over the counter, having been arguing through the open gap instead, and the boy had to grope around awkwardly to pull the bag off again. He hefted in his hands with a look that was less dismissive than the other shopkeeps, but no more encouraging.

"I don't think you can get even just plain dagger with this," he judged, looking up at her again, "much less a magic sword."

"...Magic?" Erza repeated.

"Well, yeah," the boy said, apparently forgetting his manners again. "I make magic tools, that's the point. ...What kind of shop did you think this is?"

"Weapons," Erza answered promptly, "...and armor."

He winced. "I knew I should've put something else on the sign," he muttered, "but there wasn't any room..."

"So you can't sell me a sword?" Erza pressed.

"I'm telling you, you couldn't even buy a sword with this. And crafting a magic spell into one? No way," the boy said. He watched in surprise as Erza wordlessly snatched the money bag out of his hands and spun around toward the door, and his expression broke into panic. "W-wait, wait! We can figure something out!"

Erza paused, looking back at him over her shoulder. "You said you can't," she pointed out doubtfully.

"Not with a sword, b-but maybe a dagger? Or something else! But I'm sure we can work out something!" he insisted, waving his hands frantically. When Erza turned back toward him, he sighed in relief, shoulders slumping. "Um... So why were you looking for a sword? For your dad?"

"No," Erza said. "It's for me. I will be starting my duties as a night in one week, and I've been given funds to outfit myself properly." She paused, then added thoughtfully, "I prefer swords."

"You're... a knight?" the boy started at her.

"Is that a problem?" Erza asked coolly. But thinking about it now, she wondered how many shopkeepers had assumed she was just a child playing at some game.

"No, I guess not," the boy said. "It's my first time serving a knight, but I'll make a weapon you'll be proud to wield!"

He grinned, crossing his arms and puffing up his chest confidently. Erza began to nod along, realizing only a moment later that he had said something strange. "You'll make it?" she repeated. "So you're not just minding the store?"

The grin flipped into a scowl. "No, I'll make," he said, his tone both and defensive. "Cause this is my shop. It's called Heart Kreuz because I'm Gray Kreuz, and I'm the master crafter here. ...Is that a problem?" He shot her own words back at her, forgetting again how to treat a customer.

"No, I guess not," Erza echoed back. She reached out, grasping his hand firmly, and looked him square in the eye. "I'm Erza... Erza Senketsu. I look forward to wielding your weapon, Gray."

Ignoring the startled look on his face and the flush across his cheeks, Erza glanced back toward the door.

Making a deal would have to wait until tomorrow, it seemed. Or she'd be late for curfew.

~.~.~

"A magic tool?" her soon to be captain echoed. "Fine, fine. Do as you will."

He waved his hand dismissively, not even glancing at her. The only time he had looked at Erza at all, when she first announced herself and stepped into his office, it had been with a sneer of annoyance. He hadn't volunteered to have her in his squad, that much was obvious.

"Yes, sir," Erza said dutifully, forcing down a frown.

But still, she wanted to make sure it really wouldn't be a problem. She had been thinking about it that night, lying awake in her bed in the barracks. Based on what Gray had said, he didn't make the weapons to begin with. He only added the magic spells to them. So to make it cheaper, couldn't she use the sword she'd been issued?

That was what she had wanted to confirm with her captain, but his reply hadn't been helpful, to put it mildly.

"A magic tool?" the one-eyed man at the armory repeated, when she asked him next. "You can, it's your equipment now. It's up to you what you do with it. Of course, you'll be responsible for replacing anything broken or lost, or you'll be going into battle unarmed... But are you sure this place is the real thing? Magic — it's expensive."

"Everything is expensive," Erza muttered, unable to keep the rebuke out of her tone.

The armorer sighed, knowing what she meant. "The knights get everything made at a discount, so the weapons and armor you can buy here are cheap, compared to stores in town," he said. And since he could only give her equal to what she'd pay for a replacement...

Erza nodded, glancing away in contrition. "...It's called Heart Kreuz," she said, as a peace offering. "You haven't heard of it?"

"No," the man said. "Be careful, kid. It might be some scam."

~.~.~

With that advice in mind, Erza watched Gray carefully when she returned to his shop. He had been pacing in front of the counter, and his head snapped up at the bell's frantic jingling. His expression lit up when he saw her... and Erza couldn't believe tgat was fake.

...She'd been wrong before, of course.

"You came back!" Gray said excitedly. "I mean — welcome! So I was thinking, if you're going to be a knight, you already have some weapons and armor, right? Instead of getting a new weapon, I could craft a spell on what you have..."

"I was thinking that too," Erza said, already holding out the sword she had been issued.

"You said you wanted quick but sturdy, right? Doing both might be too much for a sword like this," Gray went on, drawing and examining the blade critically. "Which one do you want more? Fast or durable?"

"Durable," Erza responded with barely any deliberation. "They always break."

"Huh..." Gray drew out. He turned the sword over in his hands, then looked up at Erza with a considering gaze. "Is there a reason why? This sword's pretty good. Not great or anything, but it'll last a long time."

"They always break," Erza repeated, frowning. "When I use a weapon, they always break soon."

If she hadn't been so used to it, the doubtful way he looked her up and down might have been insulting. But Gray didn't say anything, just scratching at his head thoughtfully. Finally, he nodded to himself, coming to some decision.

"Come on," he said, turning away and gesturing for her to follow.

Ducking under the counter, they squeezed through a narrow passage into the back of the shop and continued on. What must gave been the workshop was as bare and rundown as the front but far more open, with a large skylight, of all things, that cast a small patch of sun in the middle of the smooth, clean floor. Everything was clean, if worn, Erza realized — the floor, the battered table in the corner, the large trough of clear water...

The backdoor led out into a small courtyard surrounded by other crooked houses and a single dried up tree.

"Okay," Gray said, coming to a stop and facing Erza again. "Show me. Swing like you're fitting an enemy."

He held out her sword, and Erza accepted it with a only a short doubtful glance. Drawing it and focusing, she imagined an enemy in front of her. Her expression went blank and cold. She swang.

A burst of wind tore through the courtyard, sending up clouds of dust on either side of her strike's path. Old post she had aimed toward splintered, gaining a shallow, long gash across the middle.

Erza straightened and sheathed her sword, and turned toward Gray. His jaw was hanging open slightly, and he jumped in surprise when their eyes met. "T-that's, uh... yeah. You're really strong," he stumbled over his words. "A-anyway, I think I get it. You have really strong magic, you know. And you're—"

"I have magic?" Erza interrupted.

"Well, yeah," Gray said, shooting her a strange look. "You've definitely got a lot of magic power. That's what you're doing — you're channeling it through your sword to hit harder. That's why your weapons break faster too."

He seemed to have more to say, but the look on her face — puzzled and unsettled — made him hesitate.

"Magic is... just energy that exists in everything, in nature, in people," he said instead. "It's not anything bad, and everyone has some inside them. But some people have a lot, so it comes out easily..."

"I know what magic is," Erza cut him off.

Grandpa Rob had explained it — that each of them was special, that there was a power sleeping deep inside them, and that someday they would be able do amazing things. Thinking back on it, hadn't he done something amazing to save Erza...?

No, more than that... 'That's why they left me alive,' Erza realized. 'That's what they meant about me being useful.'

Realizing she had been glaring in Gray's direction, pinning him place like a startled rodent, Erza shook her head and said, "Continue. Do you know what to do now?"

"...Yeah," Gray said, eying her uncertainly for a moment. "There's lots of ways to make something more durable, but it'd take a lot of magic, or a complicated spell, or some rare reagents... So for you, it'd be easiest if we just made the sword a better conductor for your magic. Then it will last longer — more like how it should."

"I see. How much will that be?" Erza asked.

"There's not really a lot of materials, so it's just me doing the transmutation..." Gray muttered. "How about I just do the full set, sword and armor for you, and we'll call a discount for my first customer?"

"That's not necessary. I don't have any armor," Erza said. Pausing for a moment, she added, "And I don't want a discount."

"Wait, you don't have any armor? Isn't that..." he looked her up and down again, frowning, "...dangerous?"

"That's why I need a good sword," Erza said. "So I can protect myself."

"I... guess that makes sense," Gray admitted. "But I could try to make something from scratch..."

"I don't want a discount," Erza repeated, frowning.

They stared at each other, unwilling to back down. Gray was making a face she couldn't read, except for the stubbornness. Why did he care do much? Was this some kind of scam after all?

Erza's eyes narrowed, unintentionally projecting an era of menace that made cold sweat break out along Gray's back.

"Okay, fine!" he cracked under the pressure. "But you should definitely get some armor next time!" He turned away quickly, leading the way back inside. "It'll take about a week to stabilize after the transmutation, so you can pick the sword after that..."

"We're heading out on patrol in six days," Erza interrupted again.

"That should work," Gray said, thinking for a moment. "So I'll need the sword and something from you, to match it up with your magic. Something like, er..."

He hesitated, since most ordinary people would have reacted uneasily to what he was trying to ask, but Erza was already nodding along. "Blood, right?" she said, pushing back one of her shirt's wide sleeves.

"That's... A bit too strong, isn't it?" Gray said. "Just some hair will work. You shouldn't use blood unless it's something you're planning to keep your entire life."

He accepted the sword back and was about to offer to find a pair of scissors, when Erza pulled out her dagger and grabbed hold of a thick bunch of bright red hair.

"Wait, wait, wait! You don't need to cut off that much!" Gray yelled. "You... Are you really a girl?"

Erza huffed, giving him a flat look.

"Here, just... let me do it," he grumbled. Glancing at her awkwardly, he stepped closer and reached up to take the dagger from her hand. His fingers fumbled a little, carding through her hair as he separated out a thin strand in the front.

It... had been almost a year since another boy had stood this close to her, gently touching her hair. But that boy was now...

"There," Gray said, stepping back quickly. He handed the dagger back, a few crimson strands in his other hand.

Erza hadn't even noticed him making the cut, but reaching up, she could feel where her bangs were now a little wider on the side.

"I'm... gonna get started, so..." Gray mumbled, shuffling his feet. There was a small but undeniable flush on his cheeks, and he was looking anywhere but Erza.

She frowned, the bitter memories lingering in the back of her mind and souring her mood. "I want to watch," Erza declared, all her doubts rushing back.

Gray only blinked st her in surprise. "Um, sure," he said. "If you want."

He glanced at her periodically as he began to putter around the workroom, before falling into the rhythm of his work. It was growing later in the morning, and the sun had begun to move overhead. The bright rectangle from the skylight had grown and migrated toward the center of the room, and Gray placed Erza's sword, unsheathed, within.

Her red hair went on top of the blade, having been fastened together with a big of soft wax. Settling beside the sword, Gray began to mix black ink in a small, stone inkwell. His hands were steady and sure around the brush as he made the first stroke — a deep black curve across the smooth floor and onto the edge of the blade. Then another, and another, slowly moving around the sword to draw a magic circle that, to Erza's inexperienced eye, resembled the sun.

Watching from the shadows, Erza had to close her eyes for a moment as she started to see blue hair instead of black and other small figures beside him, scribbling away in the dirt with simple, innocent smiles.

She bit her lip, forcing back the unwanted memories. Those days were long gone now.

When Erza looked again, she had missed a few steps. There were four small colored prisms set up in a cross shape around the sword, and something was different too. Gray had moved back a little, carefully packing up his tools. Reaching into a small pouch, he pulled out a handful of some glimmering powder and gently blew it into the air.

The powder danced in the sunbeams, falling slowly. As it fell onto the magic circle and the sword, a soft glow began to emanate from the black lines. It gathered inward, into the blade, and took on red hue. A vivid crimson vein ran along the center of the sword, slowly sinking in.

Once the color had spread evenly through the blade, the glow faded to only a shimmer along the metal and the ink. Letting out a slow breath, Gray backed away and straightened.

"Since I'm using the energy of the sun as a catalyst, it'll need to stay like that for the rest of the day, so the transmutation finalizes," Gray explained, dusting off his hands. "Then it'll need to stay in pure water for the rest of the week to settle and discharge the unstable energy. For five days, I guess, but five is a good number..."

"This is magic?" Erza wondered, still staring at her sword, glowing faintly in the sun. It was strange, but she coukd almost feel it lying there, the warmth, the sharpness of its edge.

Gray's lip jutted out as he glared sulkily. "Yes! Of course it is!" he insisted hotly. "It's just a bit of alchemy, and maybe it's not flashy like an elemental spell, but it's not gonna wear off either! Crafting magic tools is magic too!"

"Mm," Erza made a sound of agreement, making him stop short. "I didn't know magic could be like that too. Using the sun... that's good."

Better than using your life. The only magic she had seen had been desperation and flaring power, or something dark and clawing. This... was more like what Grandpa Rob had described, small wonders steeped in harmless mystery.

"W-well, that's good then," Gray muttered, thrown off balance. He crossed his arms, glaring at nothing in particular. "I'll deliver it once it's done. You're staying at some barracks or something, right?"

Erza began to nod, only to stop short. She tried to imagine him coming to the barracks, or to the training fields. He'd probably ask someone to find her, but he was just a kid, like her, and the other knights... would they even tell him?

"Just come to the west gate at dawn in six days," Erza said. "I'll be waiting."

~.~.~

The west gate was still cast in the capital's long shadow when Erza's new squad gathered in preparation for departure.

They were only headed out on a simple, routine patrol along one of the kingdom's main highways, something the other knights had done numerous times in the past, but the easy atmosphere was ruined by Erza's presence and the looks her supposed comrades were shooting her.

Doubt, suspicion, distrust, even disgust. It couldn't be clearer that, in their eyes, she didn't belong there.

But it wasn't their attitude that made Erza grit her teeth and clench her fists at her sides. It was that they were alone at the gate. A few lone travelers, a single wagon, the guards — but no... no...

He hadn't come. She had been tricked.

"Alright, it's time," the captain called out.

At the sound of his voice, the squad began to gather around. The captain's eyes swept over the loose circle, exchanging nods with his men, until his gaze finally rested on Erza.

"You," he said, already frowning, "where's your sword and armor?"

"There was no armor that fit me," Erza said honestly. She hesitated, while the captain gave a long suffering sigh, but it wasn't in her nature to lie of prevaricate. "The sword... was stolen."

"Stolen...?" the captain repeated. He looked horrified before hiding his face in his hand. Among the knights watching, someone snorted contemptuously. Someone else muttered something doubtful about Erza's capacity as a knight. If she couldn't even stop a thief...

"I can still fight," Erza insisted, her voice rising over the hubbub. "I have a dagger, and I'll take a weapon off any opponents we fight—"

"Enough," the captain sighed heavily. "Just... stay out of the way. Let's go."

His tone was frustrated and resigned as he gestured to his men. It had always been obvious that having Erza in his squad hadn't been his choice, that he must have been ordered to take her. Had he lost some draw or fallen out of favor with someone? Not that it mattered, in the end.

Head bowed, fists clenching helplessly, Erza stood silent and let the men file past her toward the gate. It was clear, after all, that she had no place walking among them.

She didn't want to be among them, to be one of them. Trusting people, what good did that ever do? She had been so stupid...

Slowly, Erza forced herself to take a deep breath. It didn't matter, she wouldn't let it. She had come too far to give up. Raising her head, Erza leveled a determined glare at the backs of the men in front of her. Yes, she didn't care if they didn't accept her, but she wouldn't be left behind. She would survive and become strong on her own — strong enough not to need anyone ever again.

She took a step forward—

"—za!"

—only to stop and pause. That sounded like...

"Erza! Waaait!"

She wasn't the only one to turn back sharply and stare in shock at the figure barreling headlong toward the departing group. Teeth gritted and arms pumping furiously, he put on a final burst of speed. The bundle on his back bounced with every step, a sword protruding from it.

"Erzaaa—argh!" Still yelling, Gray finally tripped and faceplanted into the ground with an impressive crash.

Caught up in her shock, Erza actually jumped with a small squeak. She stared, frozen, as Gray lay still for a moment before raising one arm and pushing himself up. When his head snapped up toward her, he was close enough for Erza to see the small trickle of blood from his bruised nose.

"Erza!" he yelled again, shoving himself to his feet.

"Y-yes!" Erza shouted back, straightening instinctively.

"Sorry I'm late! It took longer than I thought! Here!"

His shoulders were shaking as he fumbled with belt across his shoulder, pulling the bundle off his back and drawing out her sheathed sword. His breath was coming short too — he had run the whole way from his shop on nearly the opposite side of town.

Wordlessly — because she couldn't find the words — Erza accepted the sword back and mechanically strapped it to her belt.

"And this!" He thrust out the other object he had been carrying — a roll of cloth of indeterminable shape.

Erza accepted it too reflexively. As she held it up, the cloth in raveled, revealing a simple vest with a strange crest embroidered on the front.

"This is..." she muttered uncertainly, frowning.

"No matter how I look at it, a knight without armor is too weird!" Gray declared, crossing his arms and putting on a mulish expression. "So take this! ...I didn't have any materials, so it's only going to absorb some force from a blow, b-but it's better than nothing so—!"

"But I don't have any more money," Erza said.

"That doesn't matter, you already paid me," Gray assured her quickly.

Erza frowned. "I don't want a discount," she repeated stubbornly.

"Argh, just take it!"

"No," Erza shot back. "Why are you giving this to me?"

Gray threw up his hands in frustration. "I just am!"

"What do you want from me?"

"Nothing!"

"You're lying."

"I'm not!"

"You are, because no one ever just—"

Someone cleared their throat loudly behind Erza. It was her captain, the rest of the squad lined up behind him with expression ranging from annoyance to amusement. "I'm... glad to see you're armed and armored," the captain said slowly, with the impression of great patience. "You can... pay him after we return and you get your stipend for the mission. But now — let's go."

He turned around and began to depart, the other knights trailing after him. Pursing her lips, Erza slipped the vest on — it was a little too big, which made Gray grimace a little, but at least that meant it fit over her equally too big shirt.

Both of them hesitated for a moment, tension heavy between them.

"After I come back—" Erza started to say.

"You don't have to—" Gray protested. But seeing something in her expression, he sighed. "If you want, I'm not gonna say no. But that's not why I'm giving it you, you know?"

"Then why?" Erza asked quietly. 'I don't understand,' she didn't add, though the frustration was clear in her face and voice.

"I guess... it's 'cause you look like you might need it," Gray said. "Everyone needs help sometimes. ...I did too. So I'm just... paying it back."

Erza's expression twitched a little, but an impatient call from the departing squad made her keep silent. Shooting one last look at Gray, she hurried after the other knights.

Running a hand through his hair, Gray let out a heavy, frustrated breath. "Stupid..." he muttered, even though there was no one to hear him.

~.~.~

The patrol lasted two weeks. Fifteen days later, Erza threw open the door to Heart Kreuz and swept her gaze over the small, empty shop. The frantic jingling of the bell couldn't quite muffle the bang from somewhere deeper within or the cursing that followed.

By the time Gray stumbled out, clutching at his head, Erza was at the counter. She dropped a large, stuffed bag that clinked unmistakably onto it, right in front of Gray's stupefied face.

"We claimed several bounties," she said, by way of explanation.

The rest of the squad had eyed her uncertainly on the way back — both for the poor luck of having her first mission turn out to be so much more difficult than a simple patrol, and also for her part in taking down the criminal gang they had chanced across.

Erza had ignored them with some asperity. They certainly hadn't been much help, as she'd expected. There was a bandage across her cheek and another peeking out from under her wide sleeve, testament to a battle that had given even her difficulty. But, Erza thought, reaching up to absently pat her bruised shoulder and chest, it could have gone much worse. Getting away with only bruises from the sword strike she'd taken head on was beyond lucky.

No, it hadn't been luck.

This time," she said, "I'm getting armor."

"R-right!" Gray agreed, his expression slowly brightening.

"And," she went on, "I want it to be pink. With wings. And flowers. And..."

She had been thinking about it all the way back to the capital, and she had the perfect image in mind. Noticing the way Gray was paling with each new criterion, Erza paused.

"I'll pay in instalments," she added.

"That's... not really the issue," Gray said. "Just, let me get some paper. I'm gonna need to write this down."

"Can you do it?"

"Of course!" Gray declared hotly. "...Probably. I can do the flowers, but are you sure about the wings...?"

~.~.~


	2. Maiden and Knight

**Notes:** I have named an OOC. I've betrayed myself...

~.~.~

 **II. Maiden and Knight**

"A what?"

Gray stared at Erza in complete, gaping shock, even though in retrospect it really shouldn't have surprised him. Erza was still a girl, after all, and every girl wanted—

"A dress," Erza repeated. "I need a fancy dress... instead of the armor." She forced out the last part as if it physically pained her.

"Come on, don't be like that. There's nothing weird about wanting something nice to wear in your time off," Gray said. "But I don't get why you're asking me. I'm not a tailor, just like I'm not a blacksmith. I only craft spells onto things, I don't make them in the first place."

"I don't want a dress, I just need one," Erza protested, her lower lip jutting out rebelliously.

"Okay, okay," Gray agreed. He'd learned not to argue with Erza too much early on. It was bound to end badly for him — had ended badly in a variety of ways. "I still can't make you one though."

"But you can make it into armor," Erza said, crossing her arms as if she had won the argument.

Gray opened his mouth to respond, only to pause and hesitate. He wasn't even sure which angle to approach that from. "Maybe..." he said carefully, "you should start with the armor? I mean, you should definitely have a dress if you want one! More than one even! But being safe on missions should come first, right?"

The look he received was incredibly flat and conveyed quite well that Erza thought he was being stupid again. "I don't want one," she repeated. "I need one. For a mission. So you need to make it into armor, so I'll be safe on the mission."

"...It's for a mission?!" Gray burst out. "Why didn't you say so in the first place?"

"Oh, I didn't?" Erza blinked, eyes widening in surprise. It took an effort of will for Gray not to groan aloud. "It is. I've been given a special mission from the king." She said casually, like it wasn't anything notable, just annoying. Gray choked a little on his spit. "I'm to accompany the princess to an important gathering. They're not supposed to bring guards or weapons, but I could pass as one of her handmaidens."

"So you need a dress," Gray finished, realization dawning. "But it's for a mission, so it should be armor too."

Erza huffed. That was what she'd been saying all along. "You said it makes a difference what you work with," she went on. "So help me pick out the best one."

"I... guess that makes sense," Gray said, though his expression made it clear that he didn't like the idea all the same. Dress shopping didn't exactly sound like his ideal pastime.

But then... he didn't exactly have anything else to be doing, did he? Glancing around the empty, cramped shop, Gray sighed.

"Yeah, sure," he said. "Just give me a moment to close up."

~.~.~

Gray did his best not to gape like a country bumpkin as he followed after Erza through one of Crocus's most upscale shopping alleys. She marched forward like she was on a mission, the rich shoppers parting in front of her like grain, but Gray was feeling every drop of his true country boy nature.

He had been born and raised in a small town in the middle of the countryside. With his teacher, he'd lived in the mountains like a hermit. And although he had passed through many different regions and towns on his way to Fiore, none of them had been anything like this. The famous Blooming Capital was the center for trade across the western half of the continent and further, across the sea to Alakitasia, and the market districts certainly showed that.

"Oh, the stone in that necklace is perfectly cut for an illusion spell..." he muttered absently, hesitating in front of a jeweler's window.

Erza's hand clamped around his wrist, and she dragged him onward. "I don't have money for jewelry," she said. "Only the dress.. maybe."

There were no price tags anywhere in sight, of course. They had passed the kinds of shops that followed such low class conventions a while back. The ones around them were aimed at customers for whom cost was only a number. But it wasn't like they could settle for anything less for a handmaiden of the princess. The secret mission would fail from the start if Erza stood out.

The cost of the materials was what had been holding them back from making her some proper armor too. It would need to be made specially to fit her, and that was taking some months of savings on Erza's modest stipend, even with the bonuses from bounties she'd captured on missions. On top of that, crafting strong, long-lasting spells required expensive reagents, which Gray didn't exactly have in stock.

This special order would definitely set it back...

"Come to think of it," he said, frowning, "can't the knights pay for this?" Erza's blank expression as she glanced back at him made it clear she hadn't considered that, but it made sense to Gray. "They're supposed to provide you basic equipment, right? And this isn't something you're going to have or use for any other mission. It's not like it's something personal. Since it's part of the mission, they should cover it."

Gray nodded to himself, satisfied with that logic. And, he didn't add, since Erza would be protecting the princess — which he still had a bit of a hard time believing, the princess herself, really? — the mission was high-profile enough that whoever ordered it could afford to spend some money.

Although her brow furrowed for a moment in thought, Erza seemed to agree. "Alright," she said, "then let's go to the castle."

"Yeah… Wait, me too?"

His protests were summarily ignored as Erza dragged him along.

~.~.~

Fiore was a small kingdom, but traveling to the outer edges from the capital could still take weeks, even along the highways. Off the main roads, travel time would become guesswork in case of landslides, or storms, or any number of problems. So the knights had several outposts closer to the borders, where the squads serving tours in those areas were stationed.

However, their main headquarters was in Mercurious, the Palace of Light itself. The offices, training grounds, armories, barracks occupied an entire section of the castle, to be within immediate reach of the royal family. Well, in truth few of the knights actually lived in the barracks. Most had families or at least personal housing in the city, for the sake of convenience, since coming and going from the palace could be difficult due to the security.

A commoner — and a foreigner and a child at that — like Gray normally couldn't hope to pass further into the palace than the outer gardens, which were sometimes open for the public to marvel at. But this time, his awe was dampened by a growing sense of unease.

"Hey, Erza…" he whispered, tugging at their joined hands, though Erza's grip was like steel. "Is it really a good idea for me to be here?"

The knights they were passing in the hallways all shot them sneering, suspicious looks. The whispers made it clear that Erza, at least, was easily recognizable, but why did she bring some urchin with her…?

Gray scowled glaring over his shoulder at the knight who had called him that, even as Erza continued to drag him along. Just because he hadn't gotten a proper haircut in a while—! And maybe his clothes were a bit worn... But it wasn't like was living like that because he liked it!

It was just that his meager savings had gone to setting up the shop, and yet Erza really was his only customer.

Erza herself had ignored all protests and all disapproval, steadily dragging him to the heavy doors of the armory and inside. The man behind the counter only glanced at them, his one-eyed look conveying how used he already was to Erza barging in whenever she pleased, each time with a reason more outlandish than the last.

"G-good morning," Gray muttered, squirming.

"Good morning," the armorer responded, one eyebrow rising in amusement.

Erza paused, having already opened her mouth to launch straight to the point, and repeated instead, obediently, "Good morning."

The corner of the man's lips twitched up now, making the narrow scar down to his chin twist. He shot a cold glare at the other two knights loitering in the room, prompting them to quickly make their exit, then gestured to Erza to continue.

"I've been assigned a special mission to act the princess's bodyguard while posing as her handmaiden," Erza rattled off quickly. "But I don't have money for a dress. Can the knights pay for it?"

Gray was gratified to see that even the armorer showed a moment of surprise at this. It really had been something out of the ordinary, even if Erza didn't see it that way. "For the trade conference then?" the man finally said. "I suppose the king would be worried, what with the westerners coming."

"From Alakitasia?" Gray blurted out.

"From the Alvarez Empire," the man said, his words carrying an ominous, distasteful tone. "I guess you kids wouldn't have heard of it. The king's been trying to keep it hush-hush, all the countries have. They're the strongest power on the western continent, but you hear some rumors... the kind of magic they use, it's all forbidden over here."

Gray frowned. "Like...?" he prompted.

"Magic messing around with life and death," the man said. That was explanation enough. He snorted and waved his hand. "But I guess money talks, so they're still trying to make the trade routes stronger. So the Runic Order is letting them attend the international conference this year. Since it's supposed to be neutral ground for all nations in Ishgar, the Order provides security there, so even the king can't bring guards or weapons."

"Ah, I see," Erza said, nodding sagely. "That makes sense."

"You... Didn't you ask about this before?!" Gray demanded, spinning toward her.

"No," Erza said blankly. "It's a mission, I'll carry it out no matter what. So the details don't matter."

"Yes, they do!"

"No, they don't—"

The man behind the counter cleared his throat pointedly. "Then you're the crafter boy, I take it? The one who makes magic tools?"

Somehow, being called "boy" made Gray grind his teeth, even though it was entirely accurate. He'd had too many people look down at him because of his age. "Yes," he said grudgingly. "I'm Gray Kreuz. ...Nice to meet you."

"Gen Lambert," the man introduced himself in return, the corner of his lips quirking up in a half smile. "Armory officer of the Fiore Knights."

"Ah," Erza let out a flat sound of surprise. She was staring at the armorer — Lambert — with shock.

"You... You didn't ask for his name before, did you?" Gray groaned, facepalming as Erza bristled guiltily. "Were you raised by direwolves? You should introduce yourself when you meet people, and say please and thank you and you're welcome. And hold the door open for elders, and—"

"I know about stuff like that!" Erza protested. "Grandpa Rob taught..."

She trailed off. Watching her expression close off, Gray winced. Unexpectedly, he'd stepped on a landmine.

Given his heavy sigh, Lambert had also noticed the same thing. "Who gave you that mission?" he asked, changing the subject gracelessly. "The commander? Then you should ask him to allocate funds for necessary equipment. I don't see why he wouldn't grant it, for something like that."

Focusing back on her goal with single-minded determination, Erza nodded sharply. She grabbed Gray's hand again before he could protest and began to pull him out of the armory.

"One more thing," Lambert called after them. "Don't go telling anyone else about this. It's not the kind of thing you should spread around."

He had a point, Gray thought as Erza dragged him through the corridors again. Even if she was just a girl, Erza was still a knight too. Having her accompany the princess was going against the Runic Order's commands, and even a country bumpkin like Gray knew that crossing them was a poor idea. If word of the king's deception got back to them, he'd have a tough time talking his way out.

Gray hoped Erza wouldn't get in trouble for telling him. She must have not been told to keep quiet, or she wouldn't have done it, but didn't they mention it? They should have thought of giving her equipment too, since Erza's always ill-fitting clothes made it pretty clear she wouldn't have anything to wear to a meeting of international leaders.

'It's such a high profile mission, but they're being so sloppy...' Gray thought. 'Well, Erza calls it a mission, but maybe it was more like a chance idea someone suggested...? If it was something that just occurred to them, and they hadn't thought it through yet...'

Given how high profile it actually was, everyone involved would have a million other things to deal with at every moment. And since it was Erza, she would have gone off to talk to him the very next day after being told about the mission. Maybe even the same morning, really.

That sounded about right. Erza must have acted faster than anyone anticipated and also ignored the common sense of keeping quiet, which must have been assumed...

Satisfied with his conclusions, Gray finally began to pay attention to his surroundings again. And his surroundings were... impressive. Most of the knights' section of the castle was meant to be functional and well-used. But the area they had crossed over into was meant to impress as well, with colorful carpets and tapestries and ceremonial weapons on display. The people they were passing, too, had changed from only other knights and staff to a smattering of nobles and officials.

"H-hey, Erza," Gray began uncertainly, with a sinking feeling in his gut, "who exactly are we going to see now...?"

"The commander," Erza said, like it was obvious.

She came to an abrupt stop, Gray running into her back, in front of an ornate set of double doors. "Uh... m-maybe I should wait outside..." Gray tried to say, but Erza wasn't listening. Throwing the doors open just as forcefully as she did at his shop, she strode inside with Gray in tow.

The room inside was dominated by a large, heavy desk. Behind that desk sat a man in armor, whose head snapped up toward them with a sharp glare that made cold sweat stand out on Gray's back.

"Erza Senketsu, reporting!" Erza declared, stopping at the entrance and bowing sharply. Panicking for a moment, Gray scrambled to copy her, and kept his head ducked even when she straightened again.

The man's lips thinned, but putting down his pen, he called out, "Enter. ...And close the doors behind you."

This man was the commander of Fiore's Holy Knights, Arcadios Dinoia. And Erza had just barged into his office. Frankly speaking, Gray very much did not want to come closer, but Erza still had a grip on his hand and she dragged him along into the center of the room. Arcadios's gaze lingered on Gray, narrowing in consideration. When he stood, making his way around the desk, he towered over the children in a way that made Gray at least very uneasy.

Forget Erza being in trouble, what would happen to him? He knew secret information now, what if they threw him the dungeon? Or just... made him disappear? Gray wasn't even from Fiore originally. No one would care if he vanished.

Reading something of his thoughts on Gray's face, Arcadios snorted and turned to Erza instead. "What is the meaning of this, knight?" he said.

"Yes, sir!" Erza sounded off, her back ramrod straight at attention. But her expression was remarkably, to Gray, unconcerned. "Regarding the special mission I've been assigned, please allocate funds for necessary equipment. Sir!" She repeated what Lambert had told her almost word for word, which was probably for the best. If she'd had to come up with her own phrasing, it would have probably sounded far less clear... and acceptably formal.

Acradios didn't reply, his eyes sliding over to Gray again. "And you are?" he said.

"G-Gray Kreuz, of Heart Kreuz magic tool crafting! Sir!" Gray sounded off, dropping into a deep bow.

'Pull it together!' he mentally scolded himself. He could tell from the silence that Erza didn't think there was anything to explain about his presence, so that meant it was up to him to present this in some way that didn't end in him getting imprisoned.

"Erza... made a commission to craft protective spells onto the dress she would wear while undercover," Gray said. "B-but as you know, crafting a magic tool is expensive, a-and the cost of materials is also high. Since this is part of the mission, the funds should be provided by the knights... f-for the sake of the mission's success, of course."

There was a tense, heavy moment of silence as Arcadios considered the two of them.

"It was my intent to provide a handmaiden's wardrobe closer to the date," he said finally. "But magic protection in the clothing would certainly be a benefit. Can you do it in a month?"

A whole month? For once, Erza wasn't asking for something practically overnight? Gray could barely believe it.

"Of course! Working with just cloth, I can finish in a week," Gray said dismissively, turning up his nose a little. "Especially if it's just for one use. For simple defensive spells, there's not going to be much to worry about for impurities or conflicts... But it still takes skill, of course!" He wanted to get paid, after all.

"Is that so..." Arcadios said slowly. "I had not heard of any magic tool crafter in Crocus. Where did you learn the skill?"

"Ah... from my master, in Isvan," Gray said. "I only came about three months ago." His response was distracted as he turned Arcadios's words over in his mind. In all honesty, he had little idea how rare or common crafting was. Was there really no other crafter in the entire capital? ...Wait, if that was the case, then why couldn't he get any customers?!

Erza was looking between them with a frown now, and something seemed to occur to her. "He can do it," she spoke up. "He made my sword."

"If that's the case, I will leave outfitting to you, Erza," Arcadios said. Pulling open a drawer in his desk, he reached inside and pulled out a small cloth pouch. He made his way over to the children and held it out for Erza to take. "This is a royal seal," he explained. "You can use it to stamp any bills related to this mission, and the palace will cover the costs. This is a mission directly from the king himself, so the funds will not be an issue..."

'Directly from the king...' Gray thought faintly.

"I expect you to behave as befitting a knight," Arcadios added, letting the seal's pouch fall into Erza's hands. "Do not engage in any frivolous spending. I was the one to suggest using you to the king, and your actions will reflect on me as well."

He had also been the one who allowed Erza to go through the training and the trials and become a knight at all. Certainly, there had been plenty of opposition.

"Sir!" Erza sounded off and bowed again.

"Dismissed," Arcadios said, turning away.

Gray let out a breath of relief as Erza dragged him back out into the hall. Somehow, it seemed he wasn't in trouble — neither of them were. And now... they had all the money they could spend. Suddenly, the day was looking up.

~.~.~

"You can't have the pink one," Gray said, sighing.

"What's wrong with it?" Erza asked, her cheeks puffing up a little. "It's got the shape you asked for, and it's all the same kind of cloth..."

"It's not the crafting properties that are the problem, it's the aesthetic properties that are no good," Gray huffed. "Erza, pink goes terrible with your hair. You're gonna look ridiculous."

The saleswoman who had been following them persistently ever since they entered the shop — no wonder, given their less than well-kept appearance — clasped her hands together and contradicted, with a strained smile, "It looks wonderful on you, miss! We can have it tailored to you within a couple days, if it pleases you!"

Gray and Erza ignored her, locked in a staring contest. Erza's bottom lip quivered a little, and suddenly Gray felt bad. He knew she didn't have any nice clothes, and given her practical nature, she wouldn't be buying any in the near future either. This was her one chance to dress up, and he was ruining it for her. What did her appearance even really matter? As long as she liked it...

"You know, it's fine, it's not—" he started to say.

"Fine," Erza cut him off. "It's too flashy, in any case. I'm going as a handmaiden, something plainer would suit better. The gray one, over there."

"Erza, you don't have to—"

"Miss, are you sure? Perhaps it's too plain, for such a lovely young man..."

"I'm sure. The gray one," Erza cut them both off. "You said you can have it ready in two days? I have patrol then. Gray will pick it up."

"Of course, miss, but for the final fitting..."

"If it's close, that's enough. Gray can handle anything else," Erza dismissed the saleswoman's concerns.

When she glanced at him for confirmation, Gray ducked his head awkwardly. "Yeah..." he muttered. Even though he regretted saying anything, there was no point in arguing with Erza now that she'd made up her mind. Frowning, Gray studied Erza as she was given the bill and carefully stamped it with the seal she had received from Arcadios. The saleswoman peered at it in puzzlement for a moment, then her eyes widened almost comically, and she bowed deeply, tripping over a stream of too polite pleasantries.

Now that her true potential as a customer had been revealed, Erza was barely able to extricate herself from the staff. For once, even she looked a bit ruffled as they stumbled out into the street. "W-well, then," Erza cleared her throat, smoothing her hair. "I can pay you the same way, right? Let's go back and make a contract."

"Er... It'll take me a while to put an order together," Gray stalled. "I mean, I don't know which reagents I'll need yet. For now, we should get the rest of your stuff. I'll need to coordinate between everything anyway."

"The rest?" Erza repeated blankly.

"Right," Gray said firmly. "You can't go in just a plain dress. You need accessories too, right? Like a hairpiece, a necklace... Maybe something I can make into a weapon." He nodded to himself. "It's not like you can bring your sword, or even a dagger. But if it comes down to a fight, you should have some way to defend yourself."

"...That's true," Erza agreed.

"Since the dress is a neutral color, anything would go well with it," Gray went on. "So you can pick out anything you like. Yeah — like that." He pointed to one of the displays nearby, where a large red gem set in a gold chain glittered appealingly.

Erza's expression twitched slightly as she considered the jewelry on display. "It's... not necessary," she said, unwillingly, "for the mission."

"There's only so much I can do with just cloth," Gray said. "Now, a good jewel? You can put all kinds of spells into that."

"Well, if you say so..." Erza agreed distractedly. "But maybe... that one instead?"

The necklace she pointed to was... 'Can you even wear that without stooping? It's gotta weigh a tonne,' Gray thought, staring at the rainbow assortment of gems attached to one massive collar. He opened his mouth to say just that, only to catch himself just in time.

"L-let's just look around for now," he temporized. "Maybe we'll find something even better."

~.~.~

In the end, Gray talked Erza into getting another dress too, for travel, and a few accessories for both.

It was the second, colorful but less tailored dress that he helped her into one month later. Since the outfits were meant for a girl from a well-off family, with a maid or servants to help her dress, the small buttons along the back, the sashes and even the hairpiece were a bit beyond Erza's ability to figure out alone.

"How does it feel? Can you breathe okay?" Gray asked, watching critically as Erza spun experimentally, the flower-patterned skirt flaring around her.

At least, he tried to watch critically, with the eye of a craftsman. He couldn't quite stop a blush from rising on his cheeks — especially not when Erza turned to him with a smile tugging at her lips. She probably didn't even realize she was smiling, but her eyes had lit up in a way that was different from the expression of satisfaction she'd had when Gray gave her a sword or armor. She looked... like a girl. Like a kid.

Awkwardly, Gray cleared his throat.

"Yes, it's fine," Erza said distractedly, still fluffing her skirt, running her hands over the fabric with clear fascination.

"T-that's good then," Gray muttered. "Come on, let's put on the rest of it."

Keeping his eyes on Erza — or at least on her hair and her neck, where he was fastening a hairpiece and a large brooch — was a struggle. Did she really have to stand that close...? Well, yes, she did... But did she have to look so happy? Not that Gray wanted her to be upset, or anything...

Only Ur's brutal training kept his hands steady even as his eyes darted to and away from Erza constantly. "There," Gray said backing away quickly once he finished. One last glance confirmed that the accessories were straight — the large asymmetrical bow on the hair band, which pressed Erza's bangs over her right eye, in place of the eyepatch she couldn't wear, and the fancy brooch in the shape of a butterfly that would provide a shield against magic to compliment the dresses' physical defense.

The disguise and the defense were as complete as he could make them. The only thing left was the weapon.

They had gone back and forth on that. When it came to "hidden" weapons a noblewoman might carry, the obvious choices were a hairpin or a fan. Putting a slashing spell on a hairpin, or even a transformation spell to let it shift into a sword was beyond easy, since it was already metal to start with. Same for a wind or even fire spell on a fan.

But that was the issue, when Gray thought about it — it was too obvious. The Runic Order, which was in charge of security at the conference, used magic extensively themselves. They would be able to recognize such simple magic weapons and might very well confiscate them.

No, Erza needed a weapon that didn't look like a weapon.

Reaching into the large suitcase he'd used to bring the completed wardrobe, Gray carefully pulled out a narrow sash. "Here," he held it out to Erza. "You remember how to use it?"

"Yes," Erza said, nodding sharply. She flicked her hand, letting the sash arc through the air gracefully, and pulled it over her shoulders. "That's everything, then. I confirm receipt of this order," she added formally. "Are you going to get payment from the treasury now?"

"I guess," Gray said, though he hadn't really thought that far. He'd been completely focused on making the designs, on the work, on getting it done to the best of his ability. This was the first time in a month he could finally think about something else. "What about you?"

"The rest of the squad is leaving on patrol today, but the commander cleared me to stay behind," Erza said. "I'm supposed to meet the princess, then go over the way to act at the conference. We'll be departing in two days."

"The princess, huh? I hope she's nice," Gray said. "You'll be seeing a lot of her for a while..." He tried to imagine Erza with a princess. It was... terrifying. Hardly fathomable, of course, but also terrifying. Clamping his hands down on Erza's shoulder suddenly, Gray looked her straight in the eye with an unexpected intensity. "Listen, Erza! You've got to be polite to her! Really polite! Don't say things so bluntly. Don't say stuff like... Actually, it's probably better if you just don't talk to her at all!"

"What if we're in danger and I need to give her an order?" Erza shot back immediately, apparently not at all seeing anything strange about his command.

"Don't talk to her outside emergency situations," Gray amended.

"What if she talks to me first? It's rude not to reply."

"Yes or no answers, try to make it more yes, and always say, 'Your Highness.'"

"What if the commander talks to me in front of the princess?"

"Then reply to him, but quietly. Anyway, he shouldn't be talking to a handmaiden, so it probably won't come up."

"Gray," Erza said, staring back intensely, "I don't care about not talking to her, but you're not trying to trick me, are you?"

"Of course I'm not," Gray protested, scowling. "Why would you think that?"

They stared at each other for a moment. Surprisingly, Erza backed down first. Something in her shoulders relaxed and she turned away. "I guess there's no reason to," she muttered. Swiftly tidying up her normal clothing and sword, she picked up the suitcase with the spare dress and headed toward the door. But at the last moment, she hesitated. "Gray," she called out quietly, without turning. "Thank you."

By the time he could muster a reply, she had already left.

"...For what?" Gray wondered to the empty room.

~.~.~

In truth, Gray's worry had been unnecessary. Neither the king nor the princess were the type to get offended by a lack of proper protocol or formality, and Arcadios had apparently accepted Erza's manner whenever she forgot her "sir, yes, sir" training. Still, Erza faithfully followed Gray's directions — a bit too faithfully, which he should have seen coming.

"It's a nice day, isn't it?" Princess Hisui L. Fiore asked, smiling at Erza companionably.

"Yes, Your Highness," Erza said, her eyes scanning the scenery passing by outside the carriage window.

"I wonder how much further it is to Era," Hisui went on, having long since become used to Erza's responses over the course of their journey to the Runic Order's headquarters.

"Yes, Your Highness."

"Not more than an hour to the border now," King Toma L. Fiore spoke up, smiling at his daughter. "Then we can rest. It's been a long trip, hasn't it? How are you feeling, sweetheart? Is it too much for you?"

"No, Papa, I'm fine," Hisui said. "It's very exciting to be out of the country for the first time."

"Well, tell me if you need a break," the king insisted. "Your health is the most important."

The king and the princess beamed at each other, flowers practically blooming in the air around them. Erza couldn't begin to understand Fiore's royal family — so maybe Gray's advice had been for the best.

Turning to her with a bright smile, Toma added, "You too, Erza."

"Yes, Your... Majesty," Erza intoned.

She could have told them that the king's estimate was too generous — they were nearly at the border to Era, the city-state under the control of the Runic Order. The procession had already begun to slow down as they approached the checkpoint, and Arcadios had subtly guided his horse closer to the royal carriage. But — one word responses only, so Erza kept quiet.

The carriage drew to a stop soon after, and the white and blue robed figures of the Runic Order approached the Fiore delegation. Erza watched through the window as Arcadios presented their passes and paperwork to an official in a more elaborate blue overcoat. The process was smooth and almost perfunctory, though Arcadios's expression was growing more and more tense. Soon, the door to the royal carriage opened, and the blue-coated Order official bowed deeply.

"Your Majesty, Your Highness, welcome to Era," he said. "It is an honor to have you with us again. I am Lahar, captain of the 4th unit. I humbly ask for your patience while we confirm that everything is in order."

"Oh? A captain so young? Impressive, impressive!" the king said genially. "Well, carry on."

"Yes, Your Majesty," Lahar, who hadn't lifted his head, bowed even lower. "Then, we will scan your party now."

He gestured to his subordinates, out of Erza's sight. This too must have been normal procedure as Toma appeared unconcerned, leaning over to whisper something to Hisui. Neither of them seemed to notice the spell that swept over the carriage, even as it make Erza's hair stand on end, and her dress whisper quietly, its folds shifting minutely.

Lahar glanced at her, his eyes lingering on her dress and brooch, but Erza stared back flatly, without a trace of guilt or uncertainty, and after a moment, he looked away. In the restrictions the Runic Order had placed on anyone entering their territory, there was nothing about magic tools in general, only about weapons. And Lahar knew that too.

The royal family weren't the only ones traveling to the conference from Crocus. The Minister of Trade, a few other officials, and several representatives from the major trading guilds occupied the carriages behind them, which were scanned just as quickly and with even less fuss.

Soon, the Runic monks were waving their delegation through the checkpoint. Arcadios trailed next to the royal carriage as it began to move, leaning down to the window's level. "Be careful, Your Majesty, Your Highness," he said quietly. "Erza, guard them with your life."

"Yes, sir," Erza replied shortly.

"Oh, really," the king sighed. "He worries too much. What could possible happen? Even those Alvarez wizards won't dare to try anything in Era itself."

~.~.~

The conference wouldn't begin until the next day, and the princess wanted to go exploring. "Yes, Your Highness," Erza replied without intonation — though personally, she would have preferred to stay at the mansion their delegation was lodging at. It was easier to defend, with fewer possible threats. But — one word answers.

Hisui beamed. "You're so much more agreeable than Arcadios," she said, her eyes twinkling with mischief. She had noticed, after all, that Erza only replied in two ways. "He'd kick up a fuss about how dangerous is could be. Or are you just that confident you'll protect me?"

"Yes, Your Highness," Erza said blandly. Of course she would — she wouldn't accept failure. Or she'd die trying. There was no point in worrying about consequences either way.

Hisui's smile widened at that.

Since she was on a mission, Erza didn't let herself gawk the way Gray liked to. The only things she needed to pay attention to were the princess and the potential threats to her safety, not the towering crystal spires, not the carpets flying overhead like birds, not the mysterious, outlandish items on display in the shops... Era, the city of magic, was certainly something to gawk over, but Erza had a duty, and that came first.

"Wow... Whoa!" Turning to follow a lumbering golem loaded with purchases with her eyes as they walked down the street, Hisui tripped and nearly tumbled to the ground — until Erza caught her arm, righting her easily. "Thank you, Erza," Hisui said, sheepishly. "You're so composed, even though we're surrounded by such incredible things..."

Erza almost answered — that she had been in a place full of magic before and it had left her rather inured to such things — but she caught herself just in time. "...Yes, Your Highness," she muttered.

Smiling wryly, Hisui only shook her head. "I suppose you're used to such things," she said, making Erza blink in surprise. "Magic items, I mean. But you know, I haven't seen anything like your clothes."

Frowning, Erza hesitated between the two possible responses, and settled on a middle ground. "...Your Highness?"

"Ordinary things made magic," Hisui clarified. "I've been looking at all the shops and what they sell. There's certainly many rare objects, but most of them are just flashy novelty items, or things from abroad that you can buy in Fiore too, if you know where to look. There is also so much magic here... but it's all done by wizards. It's amazing, but... it's not something normal people can use, like back home."

She smiled absently, watching the streams of people hurrying by on their own paths, while Erza watched her in turn. 'It wasn't for fun, all this walking around,' Erza realized. 'She's thinking about her duty too.'

Hisui's duty as a princess — to find ways to better her kingdom, to make the people's lives easier, to keep Fiore strong and prosperous. Fiore was just one small kingdom of no particular note. Only its position and good fortune had allowed it to become moderately well-off as a crossroads on the continent's trade routes. Other kingdoms, with more wealth, more military power, more magic, were always eyeing it, like lurking wolves.

There was little Hisui could do at the trade negotiations, young as she was. So she had hoped to get a better sense of the mysterious, wondrous runic city Era, while she had the chance. It had certainly been an interesting experience, but it had also been a sobering one. There was so much magic in Era, when the entire capital of Crocus had no more than a few hundred wizards, and many smaller towns in Fiore had none at all. And none of it was something they could take back with them...

"Heart Kreuz," Erza said. She pointedly didn't look at Hisui, staring instead at her own feet with a faint frown. "That's where this was made. It's in Crocus. So you don't need to go looking somewhere far away."

Slowly, a smile spread across Hisui's face. "I see. I understand," she said. "You're right, we already have what we need right in Fiore, don't we? We have what we need to protect our country. I know that we'll... huh...?"

She trailed off, as a shadow crept across the street, the passerby around them falling silent. Something massive was passing over the sun, something that made everyone stop and stare and quietly begin to murmur among themselves in unease. Hisui too looked up, tilting her head back — and further back. Her eyes widened in shock.

Above them was not a cloud, but a flying ship. A metal behemoth that somehow remained afloat in the air and glided silently, ominously over the city.

It should have been impossible. But it was there right above them.

Turning to Erza, her expression replaced with an unreadable mask, Hisui said quietly but firmly, "We need to head back now. They're here — Alvarez."

"...Yes, Your Highness," Erza said, instinctively stepping closer to her charge. "We should go. Now."

~.~.~

Although she had asked, no one had been able to tell Erza what the much dreaded Alvarez delegation would look like. No one knew who would be sent as representatives — or who their top officials were, or even their exact government structure. The best Arcadios could do was give her a drawing of their crest.

As the king moved between other dignitaries the night of the opening gala, Hisui and then Erza drifting obediently after him, she studied every figure in search of that three-pointed symbol.

It was... dizzying. The nobles, officials, and guild leaders present were decked out in their finest, most eye-catching outfits, creating an ever moving jumble of patterns and crests. Part of her training as a knight had included studies of their neighboring countries and their symbols, but Erza was hardpressed to pick out any of them. The strain made her close her eyes for a second and shake her head slightly to clear it.

The sound of fake laughter and insincere greetings was making her head pound. The press of people was stifling — and it set her on edge.

There hadn't been anything that could be considered a threat. Runic Order guards stood along the walls and mingled with the crowd, their eyes calm but watchful. The guests only spoke, rarely even reaching out to shake hands. Thus far, the king had been taking the opportunity to present his daughter to their closer allies, all of them greeting him warmly.

So when she felt a cold, sharp gaze on her back, Erza stiffened in surprise. The king and the princess hadn't noticed anything, chatting with Caelum's prime minister, but their conversation suddenly seemed muted and distant.

Erza turned slowly. The crowd was still swirling around her, but she didn't see them anymore. Her gaze immediately locked with another — a young man in an elaborate coat of an unfamiliar cut, a tall white color framing his narrow face. He smiled suddenly, though she had no idea why or what it meant, and reached up to brush back his long pale bangs.

Then, he simply turned away. Before he slipped back into the crowd, she caught a glimpse of the symbol on his shoulder — the three pronged crest of Alvarez.

~.~.~

"See something interesting?" Wahl inquired, the smile on the face of his round decoy body still not quite managing to be friendly, though it was certainly better than his real form's deranged grins.

"Hm, I wonder," Neinhart replied absently, scanning the crowd for August.

He'd lost track of the old man, having little interest in diplomatic or trade dealings with Ishgar and even less to contribute. Unlike August, who was one of the highest ranking government figures in the empire and had carte blanche authority to negotiate with the east, or even Wahl, who lead the technological development of Alvarez, Neinhart had only been included in the delegation to begin with because, out of the emperor's elite, he had the least troublesome disposition and the least pressing responsibilities back at the homeland.

He was only there to round out their numbers and to present a pleasant facade — it was all a joke either way. Allies? Trade partners? None of it would matter in the long run.

But unexpectedly, Neinhart had found something that might prove entertaining.

"Is it... a strong guy who'd be fun to fight?" Wahl guessed, holding his chin and effecting a pose of deep thought. "Shall we corner him alone and test out what this little continent has to offer?"

"Hah! As if there'd be someone here worth an elite's time," Neinhart snorted, amused.

"Is it..." Wahl drew out, "hm, no, can't be that... Could it be... nah... Oh, how about this? Is it... a girl with red hair very much like a certain someone?"

He was angling for a reaction, as he so often did. Human emotions, and their apparent lack of rhyme or reason, were amusing to a machina like Wahl. But Neinhart only huffed a little, not rising to the bait. "So you noticed her too," he said. "What do you think?"

"Analysis of facial and body structure suggests a... 71 percent chance of biological relationship," Wahl judged. "In addition, analysis of magic signature and capacity suggests a 89 percent chance. You, me, August, and those supposed Saints of theirs aside, she's probably the strongest wizard in this city, in terms of magic potential."

"So the same as her, then," Neinhart said, his smile widening.

Wahl was smiling too — smirking, really, with an undertone that was ill suited to their supposedly peaceful delegation. "What are you going to do? Get her alone for some fun?"

"Oh, please don't ever say that again. You have no idea what that means to humans," Neinhart groaned. "No, no, nothing like that. We have our mission to think about, you know. But I wonder... those people with her from Fiore, aren't they? Which direction would you say Fiore is from here?"

"West," Wahl answered simply.

"Good," Neinhart smiled, "that's right on our way back then..."

~.~.~

Everything had gone smoothly — or as smoothly as could have been expected for a gathering of the continent's leaders. There had been no assassination attempts, no surprise attacks, no poisonings, no violence or property damage, not even any blatant intimidation tactics.

Hisui, and the rest of the delegation, had been in no danger at all, and Erza's presence had been… unneeded. It should have been a relief, and it wasn't as if Erza looked forward to battle or having her charge in danger. But all the same, she couldn't help but feel put off by the way the conference had just… ended.

The man from the opening gala — his name was Neinhart, introduced as a representative of Alvarez's Ministry of Culture — had continued to watch her throughout the meetings and in the hallways. She had felt his eyes on her, and he hadn't even tried to hide it, only smiling whenever she caught his gaze and glared.

And yet he had done nothing at all. He hadn't even approached her or spoken to her. It set Erza's nerves on edge the entire conference, and the tension had yet to fade, even after they departed from Era.

Arcadios and his Cherry Blossom squad had rejoined the Fiore delegation at the border, and now the carriages and the knights traveled along one of the old, wide highways westward. The wheels hummed against the stones, still smooth and pale even centuries after the highway's construction and the fall of the civilization responsible. Hisui and her father had long since drifted off, even as Erza remained vigilantly on watch over the hills, plains, and forests that passed by the window.

She blinked and shook her head, realizing she was beginning to drift off as well. She reached up to rub at her eyes...

And stopped, frowning. She couldn't explain it — but she had felt something. Something pulling at the edge of her awareness, from somewhere far outside the small, sleepy carriage.

Outside, a voice called out a warning in shock and growing panic.

A roar like thunder split the air, making the carriage — and the ground itself — tremble and startling the king and the princess awake. Erza instinctively darted toward Hisui, just in time to catch her as the carriage screeched to a halt, sending everyone flying.

"Get down!" Erza barked, pushing Hisui to the floor of the carriage and glaring at Toma to do the same.

There was chaos outside, shouting and the panicked screams of the horses, another roar, and an impossibly powerful gust of wind that made the carriage shake. With her charges as safe as they could be, Erza rushed to the window and pulled herself up to lean out. A shadow swept over the carriage and the road, and another gust of wind pulled at Erza's hair.

Instinctively, she looked up. Her eyes widened in shock.

A giant monster was flying overhead, circling closer and closer to the carriages and the panicked knights. It was... large, scaled like a lizard or a serpent, with wide leathery wings and a gaping maw full of long, sharp teeth.

"A... dragon?" Erza murmured in shock.

"No," the king said quietly behind her. He had caught a glimpse of the creature flying by, and his eyes were wide in fear. "It's an ancient wyrm. A wyvern that lived for a thousand years and became something else. But there shouldn't be any left! Arcadios killed the last one, we were sure of it!"

Erza had already dismissed her initial surprise, along with any interest in what, exactly, the thing bearing down on them was called. It was an enemy, that was all that mattered. But what should she do? She was supposed to stay with the king and the princess, but if something of that size attacked the carriage, they would all be simply crushed together...

"Stay here," Erza ordered firmly. "I'm going out."

Toma nodded sharply, hugging Hisui tight.

Out of the carriage, Erza quickly took in the pandemonium. The orderly line they had traveled in had been broken up completely, and several of the horses had tried to bolt, nearly overturning more than one carriage and forcing the drivers to cut them loose. The animals hadn't been trained to withstand that level of predator threat. The knights were barely doing better, wide eyed and often struggling to hold on to their weapons.

Arcadios was shouting over the chaos, keeping a firm grip on his rearing horse as he tried to direct his subordinates into action.

But even Erza knew there was little they could do. Given the armor on the wyrm and the advantage of flight it had, their ranged weapons wouldn't be enough. The few arrows that the knights had managed to fire had simply bounced off. There was nowhere to run or hide either, only the smooth road stretching across the plains.

"Commander!" Erza called out, quickly scrambling onto the roof of the royal carriage.

"Erza?!" Arcadios turned to her sharply. "What are you—"

"How should we fight it?" Erza cut him off. "His Majesty said you defeated one. How?"

There was no time to sort out her insubordination, and despite his glare, Arcadios didn't bother to try. "That was different! We chose the terrain for an advantage, in the mountains! And I had the armor... We won't be able to approach without getting hit by its magic, and no one here can withstand that! And we have no weapons that can pierce its hide! Get His Majesty and—"

"If it's about armor, I have it," Erza cut him off again. "Against magic, against an attack, and a weapon too. Even if it's just once, I can strike it. Where should I aim?"

"That's meant to protect you against human wizards! Do you really think it'll hold against a monster like that?" Arcadios snapped. "You're wagering your life on that!"

Erza blinked, her answer taking a moment to come — not because she was unsure of it, but because she herself was surprised by it and by how easily it came to her. "...Yes," she said simply. "I'm ready."

Arcadios stared, taken by off guard by her certainty, but there was no time to argue or debate. "Get on!" he ordered, circling his horse around. The moment Erza landed behind him, he spurred his mount into a gallop, dodging between the soldiers and the carriages until they broke free of the procession. He glanced behind him, searching the skies for the wyrm — and if it was following them.

Catching his intent, Erza too leveled her gaze at the circling serpent. 'Come face me,' she thought, forcing every bit of her will toward the monster. 'I am ready to fight. I will defeat you, beast.' It was too far to possibly make out, but Erza was sure that its gaze snapped toward her as well.

The wyrm roared, as if accepting her challenge, and wheeled around to bear down on the galloping horse and its two riders.

"Good, it's taken the bait," Arcadios called back to Erza. "When it descends to strike, that will be the best opening we can hope for. Listen closely — an ancient wyrm can breathe fire or thunder or ice, some magic, like dragons. This one... is probably fire. When it prepares its roar, its throat will swell up. The scales are weakest there. That's where you have to strike. Can you do it?"

"Yes," Erza said. It wasn't as if they had a choice. They had no better plan. She'd either make it — or she'd die trying. And Erza had no intention of dying like this.

Arcadios looked like there was something else he wanted to say, but he turned away, his jaw clenched. "...Then the gods be with you, knight," he muttered. "Get ready, it's coming down."

He was right. The wyrm was almost upon them. Erza's eyes scanned its form — the long, engorged snake-like body, the small, almost atrophied back legs, the wings that took the place of its arms, the heavy square jaw, spittle dripping down from between the jagged fangs. Wrinkled folds in the skin around the neck, the coloring slightly distorted.

'There,' she thought. Her hand tightening around her sash, she whipped it off her shoulders and stood atop the horse. The wind buffeted against her back, making the narrow strip of cloth flutter wildly — until she sent a pulse of her magic through it, so grew taut and sharp.

'It's only good for one shot,' Gray had warned her, his expression serious. 'It'll fray apart with the strike, when it connects, so you have to make it count. But when you put your magic into it, it'll be able to cut anything.'

Erza had heard of master swordsmen who could accomplish such a feat — turning anything, a wooden stick, cloth, hair, anything, into a cutting edge through just their spirit. She wasn't capable of that herself, not yet. This time, she would have to borrow Gray's power and skill instead. But that was alright. It had surprised her too, but she trusted in the things he made. She trusted him.

With a screeching roar, the wyrm folded its wings and dropped down to attack.

It breathed deep, its chest plates puffing out, its throat swelling like a balloon. Its yellow, reptilian eyes met Erza's, and she realized it was smarter than she had thought. It knew how strong humans were. It knew how far their weapons could reach. It was confident that it was too far for her to hit, that she was too late.

It was arrogant, in its age and power. It had fought many knights, heavy men in heavy armor, and many wizards, reliant on their magic and casting from a distance. It hadn't fought anyone like Erza.

Her powerful magic surged through her body, making her strong yet light. Her dress fluttered around her, weighing nothing at all, the sash-sword in her hand even less. "I will win. I will live," Erza repeated to herself her old mantra.

Then, she leaped.

It was more as if she vanished, moving too fast to follow. How many opponents had she taken by surprise with that move? Human, monsters, she had fought them all — she had fought and won and survived. She had learned it from... yes, from him. From Jellal. But that didn't matter. No matter what had happened with him, no matter what he had become, Erza had still survived. She would keep surviving, by any means necessary.

'Survive this,' he had said, just before he let go.

'I will,' she thought now.

The wyrm was older, stronger, smarter than the beasts in the gladiator arena, than most of her human opponents too. It read her movement, enough to start to react. It flapped its wings desperately, trying to rear back midair. But it was too late.

Erza twisted to slam into its massive throat feet-first, her arm already slashing across. She could feel the sash fray apart even as she pulled it through the thick scales, skin, and muscles. But she could also feel the wyrm's flesh parting. The cut was deep enough, wide enough.

Writhing, the wyrm had already begun to plummet. The magic it had gathered ran out of control, burning up its inside and gushing out of its mouth — and the gash Erza had cut. She threw up her arm instinctively, shielding her face, as the fire exploded outward.

Pulling his horse up short, Arcadios wheeled it around. He gritted his teeth as he watched the ancient wyrm's body fall, its wings giving out and tangling, its own flames licking across its chest and head. Arcadios remember that weight, of the massive serpentine body giving out and crushing down on its killer, that heat, of its own magic swallowing both the defeated and the victor. He could only hope Erza's faith in her armor was justified...

He was spurring his horse back in the beast's direction even before its corpse had hit the ground, making the earth tremble.

Jumping off the steed, he slid down the wall of the shallow crater the wyrm's body had formed. "Erza!" Arcadios called out, a strident command laced with desperation. "Erza, can you hear me?"

"...Commander." The quiet, even voice came from above, and Arcadios looked up slowly.

Erza stood atop the wyrm's bulk, looking down at him calmly but with a trace of satisfaction. Her dress was in fraying rags, and the brooch pinned to the wide collar crumbled in front of Arcadios's eyes, both used up. She was covered in dirt and soot, scraped in several places — but otherwise unharmed, standing strong and steady.

"Mission accomplished," Erza reported. Something like a smile tugged at her lips, despite her serious demeanor. "...I won."

"...Well done," Arcadios said, closing his eyes and letting out a sigh of relief.

Peace and relief were interrupted suddenly when the wyrm's body shifted. Erza leaped off quickly, and she and Arcadios backed away. But it wasn't stirring — rather, it was collapsing. Flames ate away at the flesh, engulfing the entire bulk in spare moments like a pyre.

Then, just as suddenly, they began to extinguish again, both fire and body vanishing into nothing. Soon, there wasn't even ashes left, only dark burn marks in the center of the crater. The colossal enemy they had fought was gone — like magic.

"...Is that natural?" Erza wondered.

"I'm not... sure," Arcadios admitted. "It wasn't this fast last time. And..." He fell silent, unwilling to voice his thoughts — that this wyrm had been too similar to the one he had fought. He was certain he had seen the same markings, the same scars on it. But that couldn't be. That monster had burned up in its own flames as well. Nothing had remained.

Pursing her lips, Erza looked up, at something only she could make out, or perhaps something she only instinctively sensed.

~.~.~

"Are you satisfied now?"

The question made Neinhart turn, a smile tugging at his lips. There was no hint of contrition or guilt in his expression. "Oh, yes," he said. "There's quite a resemblance, wouldn't you say? It's not just coincidence, not with that hair and that magic power..."

August did not respond to that, only turning away and heading back inside the airship. "Then let us be on our way. We have dallied enough," he rebuked mildly.

Ducking his head, Neinhart accepted the reprimand. He knew there would be no further punishment, despite his actions potentially endangering relations with one of their future trading partners. Well, it didn't really matter, after all. In the end, "partner" was just a temporary nicety. All would become part of Alvarez, in the end.

Before following the old man inside, he spared one last glance over the edge of the airship's open deck. Far up as they were and with both the scrying magic and his Historia now deactivated, he couldn't make out any of the figures down on the rolling green plains and the narrow white ribbon of highway below. But he knew she was there — the girl who so reminded him of Lady Eileen.

What interesting news he would be bringing to their crimson maiden...

~.~.~

"One moment, please— YOU!" Gray roared as soon as he realized who had come through the door of his shop. "What did you do?!"

The suddenness of his displeasure made even Erza pause, though she didn't seem nearly as put off as she should have been. "Today, I got up at the usual time, stretched, had breakfast..." she began to recite.

"Not that!" Gray snapped, not in any mood or state to indulge in his usual straight man routine. "Ever since you came back from that mission, every noble family with a daughter has been sending me orders for dresses! All of them! What did you do?!"

Erza blinked, her moment of hesitation — realization, actually — making Gray's eyes narrow in suspicion. "It wasn't me," she said, honestly. It had been Hisui, that much she could guess. Although, indirectly, that was also Erza's fault, since she had been the one to tell her the name of Gray's shop.

"I don't believe you," Gray hissed.

"Isn't it a good thing that you have more customers?" Erza asked. "You'll have more money." More money was good, even she understood that.

"Well, yes," Gray began to say, caught a little flat-footed. "But not like this! I don't even know anything about making dresses! I keep telling them that and to go buy the dresses first and what to get, but they don't listen! It's like they think I'm a tailor! And I'm not!"

He was nearly wailing by the end, his expression harassed and frantic. Noting that, Erza narrowed her eyes. "Give me their names," she said. "I'll set them straight."

Gray stared at her in shock, and also in horror. "No," he said. "No, absolutely not. I'll... handle. Somehow. Just... don't go picking a fight with a bunch of nobles! How did you manage to not offend the king and the princess, I have no idea... You, you didn't offend the king and the princess, right? Right, Erza?"

In response, Erza could only shrug. She had no idea, and she didn't care too much. Gray... did not share that sentiment.

~.~.~

 **Appendix: Countries**

 _Fiore_ \- The western-most mainland kingdom. It is best known as a trade center. Due to its advantages position, it lies on many trade routes, in particular with the archipelago nation of Caelum, up north to Seven, and with Minstrel. Most settlements and landmarks in Fiore are named after flowers and plants. Like most nations in Ishgar, it has a strong influence from the Yakuma. Once, the land where the country now stands belonged to dragons and draconic monsters are still a common threat.

 _Bosco_ \- Fiore's neighbor to the east. Once a monarchy, it went through a revolution and is now ruled by a senate. Despite disapproval from many other nations, Bosco allows slavery, officially only in a limited capacity, but with a booming underground trade.

 _Era_ \- The city-state of the Runic Order. It was once a simple monastery granted to them by a royal family, but has become a famous magical city. No armed forces are allowed into the city. In recent years, more and more wizards have flocked there, leaving their countries of birth to seek fame, fortune and the further progress of magic research.

 _Pergrande_ \- The largest kingdom of the west and the last true nation before the northern frontier. Despite its size, it has a comparatively small population and boasts few resources. However, its crimson royal palace is famous for its scale, stonework, and impenetrability. There are no nations on its eastern and northern borders, only small coalitions of villages and nomadic tribes. The weather is infamously cold and miserable.

 _Land of Isvan_ \- One of the regions to the northeast of Pergrande. The origins of the name have long been lost. Cold and inhospitable, Isvan is characterized by snow and mountains. The magic there is quite different from the schools of the west. Due to its isolation, even the Runic Order has little presence there.

 _Alvarez_ \- The largest nation on the western continent of Alakitasia. An empire consisting of many different conquered states and peoples, who bow only to their Eternal Emperor. Little is known about their exact government structure and even their culture. They are feared due to their research into magics that have been forbidden and suppressed by the Runic Order, in particular those dealing with the boundary of life and death. Official trade and diplomatic relations have only begun to be established recently.

~.~.~


	3. Pride and Proving

**Notes:** Ah, this chapter... I wrote out a completely different chapter 3, but it was a complete struggle and I felt tired just thinking about chapter 4... so I scrapped the initial proto-3 and instead wrote this, which goes in a completely different direction, whoops.

In response to some reviews, sorry about Gray's characterization being apparently OOC, tbh I'm not too clear what he was like as a kid, post-Brago. Regarding the pairing, it's more a theoretical thing. They're obviously not going to get together as kids, and we're not due for a real timeskip for a good while (if I ever get that far).

~.~.~

 **III. Pride and Proving**

Gray had tried to look more presentable, the next time he went to the palace. He wasn't just some kid anymore, after all. He was representing his shop and his creations — and through that, his master and her teachings. A sloppy appearance implied sloppy work, and that was something he wouldn't abide by.

He actually had money for new clothes now, but unfortunately he had also been so busy with new orders that he'd barely had time to sleep, much less shop. Well, at least everything was clean and new...

Hailing the guards at the small side entrance, he'd tugged nervously at the narrow tie around his neck and clutched the package closer to his chest. It was just because the order would be hard to replace if it was stolen, he told himself, not nervousness or anything like that. The materials alone, much less the catalysts, had been… very expensive, and rare. Good jade was hard to come by, out west.

But to his surprise, the guards parted to let him pass almost immediately. It hadn't been this fast even with Erza, a knight. "You are expected," one of them told him. "I'll show you the way."

The palace halls were just as impressive as Gray remembered — more so, since they did not head into the knights' section, but into a more ornate, opulent area meant for visitors. His head began to crane back as he stared at the fresco on the ceiling… only to snap back quickly as Gray remembered himself.

"Please wait here," the guard guiding him said, as they finally drew to a stop at the door to a small but still fancy waiting room. "His Majesty will see you once he is available."

"Um, yeah," Gray said, and immediately winced internally.

He didn't dare sit down in any of the embroidered chairs and settled for studying the tapestry on the wall. It was just a flower pattern, but the weave was different than what was used in Isvan. 'If you cross the threads like that, the energy is going to flow differently. The count is off too,' Gray thought. 'I wonder what kinds of looms they use? And I've never seen that color thread before…'

Someone cleared their throat, making Gray jump and spin around. A short older man was standing behind him, watching Gray with amusement.

"Y-yes?" Gray asked.

"You are from Heart Kreuz, then?" the man asked. "Thank you for delivering my order."

"Your… order? Then you're…" Gray muttered, realization dawning on him. "Y-Your Majesty! Thank you for your patronage! It's an honor!"

The king laughed goodnaturedly. "Now, now, there's no need for that," he said. "Just think of me as another customer. How was making the pendant? Any trouble?"

"No, uh, sir," Gray mumbled, keeping his head ducked as he held out the package. "One jade amulet for protection, as requested. Jade is good for almost any kind of spell, a wise choice." 'Flatter the client a bit,' Ur had said wisely. 'It's good business sense.' Gray cleared his throat, "Given the name, I assume the princess will be presenting it?"

"Yes, Hisui asked for me to commission it for Arcadios," the king chuckled. "You could say it's more her order than mine, although it's still an official commission... But as it happens, there is something I'd like to request as well. Do you have a bit of time?"

"Um, yes. Of course, Your Majesty," Gray said. Like he could refuse... but he really did have time. He'd been glad to have an excuse to refuse making any more dresses and cleared his schedule with perhaps a bit too much haste. Even if he hadn't liked it, those had been customers too.

Shoving the self-recriminating thoughts away, Gray followed the king out of the meeting room when beckoned and through the castle halls. Everyone they encountered scrambled to bow, but Toma only waved to them, smiling pleasantly. Feeling the questioning stares that slid toward him, Gray tried to shrink as small as possible. He really should have dressed nicer…

Despite his admonitions to Erza about politeness, Gray didn't actually know much about proper protocol, especially not for a far west country like Fiore. He had just been using what Ur taught him about how to treat customers who thought a lot of themselves.

But, now that he thought about it, the king didn't seem to be that kind of customer to begin with, if his benevolent act and Erza's stories were to be believed.

"Is becoming a crafter difficult?" the king asked conversationally. "I must admit, I haven't met many. There is that wood-worker girl, of course, but her personality is a bit…"

Blinking in surprise at being addressed and at the question, Gray took a moment to form an answer. "No, not really… At least, I don't think so," he said. "Anyone could learn to do it. It's not like you need to have strong magic or anything like that." At the king's encouraging look, he elaborated, "If you have strong magic, you can brute force spells onto things, that's true. But because you're using your own magic, any magic tools you make like that will only work best for you, or it might not even work for anyone else at all. And if you force spells to engrave quickly, that damages the integrity of the object, so it'll break down much faster."

The king hummed thoughtfully. "So you use a method without your own magic?" he surmised.

"Well, it helps to use a little of your own magic to start the processes and to keep an eye on everything," Gray admitted. "But it's so little anyone can do it. Everyone has some magic inside them, you know. But it's better to use a long process, so the magic you're crafting can filter through the reagents into a smoother flow and the right type, before it's applied to the object. And since the process is long and very gradual, you might as well just use magic from the world instead, since it filters more easily. From the sun, or the earth, or the water, things like that."

There was a lot more he could say, but realizing he had been speaking for a while, Gray cleared his throat awkwardly and fell silent.

"You're very knowledgable about it," Toma noted.

He meant it completely honestly. But, since from his perspective he was only saying obvious things, Gray assumed he was being humored. "It's just what my master told me," he muttered.

"But your master didn't come with you to Fiore?" the king asked. "I heard you run your shop alone."

"No… she's… Master Ur isn't here," Gray stumbled over his reply.

"Striking out on your own, then?" Toma guessed, chuckling. "Well, it's good to stretch your wings, see the world, find your own path… That's part of growing up."

He had misunderstood, but Gray didn't correct him, only averting his gaze uncomfortably.

"Ah, here we are," the king went on, coming to a stop in front of a rather plain door at the end of a side passage. Pulling out an old, heavy key, he slid it into the equally heavy lock and jiggled it for a moment until the mechanism clicked open and the door slowly swung open.

The room inside was musty, the air stale, but there was no dust on the floor. It seemed to be some kind of storage chamber, with preservation runes carved into the walls. However, it was almost entirely empty. The only thing inside was a single stand holding up a suit of white armor.

The king and Gray made their way inside, approaching the armor in the center of the room. It had once been an impressive work, Gray could tell immediately, and it had done its duty — the chest plate had been rended open by some incredible force, several other pieces dented and gouged, and the edges had even begun to melt once the main enchantments on the suit had given out.

"This is the White Lily Armor, which had been one of the treasures of the crown for generations," Toma explained, standing back as Gray slowly circled the armor. "Traditionally, it is awarded to a knight who gains the crown's full trust. A few years go, I allowed Arcadios to use it when he volunteered to spearhead the attack against the ancient wyrm that had been terrorizing the countryside. He was able to defeat it, and the armor saved his life, but as you can see…"

"It broke," Gray finished. "Not just physically. The spells on it cracked too."

"That's exactly right," the king agreed. "So that brings me to my request — will you repair it?"

All things considered, Gray should have expected that — What other reason could there be to show it to him? — but the question still took him by surprise, and he spun around to stare at the king, wide-eyed. "Me?" he asked, pointing at himself. "But isn't this armor… really important? Are you sure? …Uh, Your Majesty, sir."

It was Toma's turn to regard Gray with some surprise, and a bit of amusement. "Why you, hm... In your homeland, are there a lot of crafters?" he asked, instead of answering.

"Not a lot, I guess," Gray said uncertainly. "But there's one in most towns, or one town over. The nomads have their people too… I suppose most of them wouldn't be able to handle something like that armor, since they just work on everyday stuff. People on Master Ur's level are rarer, but they travel around everywhere, so you could still place an order with them…"

He pursed his lips, beginning to guess the directions of the king's query. Arcadios had said something like that too, before — that there weren't any other crafters in Crocus. It had seemed strange to Gray even at the time. Who made the wards against snow storms? Who set up the guideposts on the roads? Who repaired the heat stones, or the purifying runes on the wells?

But when he looked around Crocus more closely, Gray had started to realize that there wasn't much of anything like that. It wasn't just that his shop was in a nearly abandoned area. The entire city seemed to run with very little magic. The only magic tools that were common at all were the lacrima lamps, and carving the natural crystals was very simple.

"It's… not like that here, huh?" Gray muttered.

"No," Toma said, "not quite. There is only one other professional crafter in Fiore that I know of. She specializes in working wood and rarely takes commissions. And certainly, the White Lily Armor is outside her skills. I always thought it might never be repaired, at least not during my reign..."

Glancing at the white armor on its stand again, Gray wondered if it would be outside his skills as well. He had never worked with anything that old before. And to begin with, his knowledge was in weapons. Defensive spells were a different thing. He could figure something out if he was working from scratch, but repairing existing spells? And on something like that... There would be only one chance. If anything went wrong, the armor would be ruined forever.

His uncertainty must have shown on his face. "Can you do it? Or is it too much?" the king asked. There was no reproach in his question, but Gray's expression hardened.

If he admitted he couldn't do it...

'I can't do it. Creating something like that isn't possible, even for me,' Ur had said, and Gray dismissed her, like the idiot he had been. Nothing she'd tried to tell him after that had mattered to him. No matter how skilled she had proven herself, once she had admitted her limitations...

If he admitted he couldn't do it, it wouldn't matter what he could do. He'd be dismissed as useless.

Clenching his fists, Gray squared his shoulders. "I'll do it," he declared.

He couldn't afford not to, he thought.

~.~.~

Not for the first time, Erza thought she definitely didn't understand the princess at all.

There should have been very little reason for her royal highness and a new knight to ever cross paths, even if they were both young girls of the same age and even if they lived in the same castle. So, having decided that she wished to interact with Erza further, Hisui simply went ahead and manufactured such reasons. No — calling them reasons implied that there was some actual purpose to their meetings. Instead, Hisui had taken to simply summoning Erza to a drawing room, a balcony, the gardens and… talking for a while about various subjects.

Hisui, naturally, did all the talking.

At least Erza wasn't the only one bemused by the princess. The whispering among the other knights, which had begun to die down a little, resumed with new fervor ever since the first time Erza was approached by a servant because Her Highness "requested her presence."

It all reached new heights when Hisui personally came to the training grounds, beaming at Erza as if she didn't even notice the knights around them dropping everything they were doing to stare, bow, and gossip. Maybe she really didn't notice. Being stared at was part of a princess's daily life, after all.

"I thought we might visit Master Kreuz today," Hisui said, as Erza obediently moved to her side.

"Yes, Your Highness," Erza said indifferently, after a moment to puzzle out that 'Master Kreuz' was Gray. Pausing, she added, "Have you informed the staff?"

Last time Hisui had decided to take a trip into the city with only Erza for company, the row that followed had involved what seemed like half the palace staff and a good quarter of the ministers, culminating with the king himself and Arcadios having to get involved — all because apparently the princess couldn't walk around in her own city with just one knight as protection. Hisui had continued to smile the entire time, but it had been impressively frigid.

"Oh, you didn't know?" Hisui realized. "Master Kreuz has been at the castle for the last week. He's been hired for a special commission by the crown." Her usual sunny smile turned a little devious. "I thought we might surprise him."

Erza hadn't picked up on it, but Hisui held a bit of a grudge. Gray's crime? Being the one who suggested Erza stick to yes or no answers — a habit she had yet to entirely break.

Their destination was the same out of the way storeroom that the king had led Gray to a week prior and that Gray had then appropriated for his work — and a week later, it had changed greatly.

Long banners of plain white cloth had been hung along every wall, though they hadn't remained blank for long. Black ink was scrawled across every banner, in rows of symbols large and small. However, there were obvious gaps as well, where the symbols abruptly ended as if erased or where thick black furrows blotted them out.

The writing was a visual representation of the spells on the White Lily Armor, the incantations, intent, history that went into the original crafting, which Gray had extracted to try to understand how it had worked, when it had still worked. Judging by the mass of scribbled notes strewn across the floor, increasingly messy and frustrated, it hadn't particularly helped.

There was a tray of half-eaten food by the entrance and even a nest of tangled cloth that might have been a blanket or a couple of wrinkled shirts, which had been clearly used as an improvised sleeping roll.

But, surprisingly, Gray himself was not inside.

"He must have stepped out," Hisui said, mostly to herself. "What ill luck..."

Erza shrugged. "He'll be back soon," she said. From prior experience, she knew that Gray tended to get almost obsessively focused on his work, to the point of forgetting everything else. He had probably not left the palace even once since receiving the commission.

"Yes, but… I have an appointment in an hour," Hisui admitted, pursing her lips in disappointment. So she couldn't wait for long.

"Then let's go find him," Erza said, already turning and striding out. "...Your Highness."

Smiling again, a bit more triumphantly than appropriate, Hisui hurried after her.

To be perfectly frank, Erza had no idea where Gray might have gone — To clear his head? Back to his shop? To do research? — so she headed where she herself would have gone. That is, to the armory to see Lambert and ask for advice.

As it turned out, Gray had actually done the same thing.

"He stopped by a little while ago," Lambert confirmed. "He's been by a few times, asking about the armor, how it was made, when, things like that. I only know the rumors anyway, but I guess since he's from another country, he hasn't heard even that… This time, he wanted to know if there's any wizards at the palace specializing in combat."

"Are there?" Erza asked, with mild interest.

"Not as such…" Hisui said. There were a few wizards at the palace, certainly, and at noble households and guilds around the city, but they specialized in more day to day magics, things to make lives easier.

Lambert smirked a little, the scar on his chin twisting a little. "Well, there's those guys. The executioners. I told him about them," he said. "But I don't think that's going to help him much. He'd have to find them first."

"What guys?" Erza asked, turning to look between Lambert and then Hisui — who had paled somewhat alarmingly.

"Oh… oh dear," the princess murmured. "There is a… small issue. They are here. Right now, have been for a while." She wrung her hands, avoiding Lambert's stare. "There's… well, there's a lot of talks going on, with Father and the ministers, so they were called back."

"Who?" Erza pressed, only to be ignored again.

"That kid… he might have gone to meet them," Lambert admitted, frowning. "And I think he's been given run of the palace, so no one might stop him."

Hisui bit the inside of her cheek. "Then… I will go to check. If he did… it's dangerous," she decided.

So this was what Gray was always getting mad about, Erza realized. Getting talked over, about something everyone except you knew... She glared half heartedly at Hisui's back as the two of them hurried out of the armory, at a walk as brisk as socially acceptable, the princess leading the way to a section of the castle where Erza had never gone before.

It was annoying, and Erza wanted to dig in and refuse to go along with it, but… "Is Gray in danger?" she asked, catching up to Hisui.

"Well, no… not necessarily. I mean, they won't kill him," Hisui said distractedly, barely acknowledging the knights and servants they passed, all of who stopped to bow to the princess. "But they're unpredictable. If they get angry, or if they feel like toying with him…"

"I don't know who you're talking about," Erza said flatly. "Who are they?"

That, at least, seemed to finally get through to Hisui. "The Garou Knights," she said with a glance back at Erza, worry furrowing her brow. "Originally, there were four orders of knights in Fiore. Two have since disbanded. The order you are in, the Katou Knights, has become so prominent it's often treated as the only one. But there's one more, the fourth... the shadow order. The Garou Knights are all wizards, but some of them used to be criminals who were pardoned or mercenaries chosen for their power. So their reputations is..."

Unwilling to slander a knight order of the crown, Hisui trailed off, but Erza understood the implication.

"They are almost always out of the palace. They make the court nervous," Hisui went on quickly. "And they... have short tempers."

The section of the castle that must have belonged to the Garou Knights was not dirty or dusty, which the palace staff would have never allowed, but the impression of neglect was still obvious. There was something that made the halls seem unlived in and unused — perhaps the lack of any decorations, or the way every door was closed, or the fact that they were completely alone, passing no one in the corridor.

Picking up the pace without thinking, Erza quickly passed Hisui. Up ahead, she could hear shouting.

She burst into a large chamber, probably a ballroom of some sort — almost entirely empty, except for a puzzling array of furniture and other objects gathered into several clusters around the center of the hardwood floor. Two young women sat on one of the larger piles, watching the row taking place in the middle.

"Just show me your dumb magic already, you cultist wannabe!"

"And I said you should just get lost, you snot-nosed brat! And don't call me a cultist! I'm a reaper!"

Erza sighed. She couldn't help it.

Gray was standing on what looked like an overturned bookshelf, rising on his tiptoes to glare into the face of his opponent — a man in a long dark cloak over armor, with twin scythes on his back. The man's expression was an equally matched glare. No, it was far more intimidating, but the fact that he was directing it toward a petulantly scowling child made it difficult to take seriously.

One of the young women in the audience finally noticed the new arrivals and, elbowing her companion, ducked her head in what might have suggested a bow. "Your Highness," she greeted loudly.

The man turned sharply, his eyes widening for a moment. "...Princess Hisui," he said, straightening and apparently intending to pretend the previous scene had never taken place. "What an unexpected surprise. What brings you to the Garou Knights?"

He smirked and backed away toward the largest pile of mysterious objects, dropping onto it and sprawling like a king on a throne — a throne made of two cabinets, an upside down sofa, a grandfather clock and several banners draped over it all. The two young women also leaned back on their own thrones of destruction, expressions equally confident and lazily amused.

The purpose of the seemingly destroyed furniture suddenly became clear — simply, atmosphere. The Garou Knights liked to greet any messenger sent to summon them with an air of danger, destruction, and irreverence.

Typical wizards, in other words.

Hisui smiled. "It's a wonderful opportunity to meet our strongest knights," she said, without the slightest hint of hesitation. "You are Commander Kama? It's a pleasure."

"Don't worry, we wouldn't do something like breaking the kid just because he's annoying," Kama snorted. "It'd be a pain to deal with all the fussing afterwards. The ministers are already always breathing down our necks."

"I'm very sorry to hear that," Hisui said diplomatically. "We are always very grateful for your service and loyalty. ...However, if it would be possible, perhaps you would be willing to assist Master Kreuz with his commission, as it is also an order from the crown."

Standing to the side, Erza felt her lips quirk up a little at the expression on Gray's face at being addressed as 'Master Kreuz.'

"And how can the Garou Knights help with fixing the White Lily Armor?" Kama drawled. Naturally, they were completely up to date on all the castle gossip.

When Hisui turned to him for the explanation, Gray grimaced and shifted awkwardly. "Well, it's... I mean..." he mumbled. "I just... It's because of me." He winced, just saying it, but barreled on. "The structure of the spells in the armor doesn't make sense to me. It's too different from anything in Isvan. So I need to study some Fiore spellcraft. Combat magic will be closer to those defensive spells, so..."

It was easy to see that Kama wanted to refuse. Wizards too had things like trade secrets, even if they were generally not so closely guarded, but for a combat wizard in particular — catching an opponent off guard with a secret skill could mean the difference between victory and defeat.

"...If it is the princess's order, we will certainly obey," he said finally. "But I'm hardly a teacher. I can only show you my magic... through combat."

Reaching over his shoulder, Kama grasped one of his scythes and swung it forward with the ease of great skill. The blade hummed as it was pointed toward Gray, gleaming in the faint light coming through the shuttered windows.

Gray's expression twitched a little, his thoughts obvious — he wasn't a trained fighter, and while he was reasonably confident in his ability to pick up the general pattern of the spellcraft from observation, doing so while desperately trying not to get beheaded…

"Fine," he bit out, raising his chin defiantly. "I'll—"

"I'll do it," Erza spoke up.

"...Hoh," Kama drew out, his gaze moving to her and turning rather considering.

"That's a fine idea," Hisui agreed. "Then I will observe."

"You said you have a meeting soon," Erza pointed out, apparently not realizing the purpose of Hisui's decision — with the princess watching, the Garou Knights were less likely to get... carried away. Pausing thoughtfully, Erza added, "I'm supposed to report in too."

"Then I will inform your captain about your location," Hisui said. "Arcadios as well."

When he was first interrupted, Gray had turned to Erza, a protest already on his lips. But then, Kama and even Hisui had kept talking over him, leaving Gray standing uselessly with his mouth open, waiting for a moment to jump in. Finally, he huffed, crossing his arms and glaring at the lot of them. Even though this was about his job, everyone was deciding things without even consulting him… not that he couldn't work with watching Erza fight.

"If you're going to fight," he declared, making everyone finally remember his presence again, "fight her first."

He had pointed at one of the two young women, who had watched the entire scene with amusement. "Me?" she said, raising her eyebrows.

"Yeah. You use a style from the Yakuma, right? I know some of those, so it'll be the easiest to understand," Gray said.

"Fine," Kama said. "Kamika, you go first. Then, Cosmos. Play nice, now… and if the girl is still up for it, she can try me last. I'll be interested to see what the Katou Knights can offer."

~.~.~

The fact that Kamika, one of the Garou Knights, supposedly the strongest wizards in Fiore, couldn't take down one little girl — even if she was holding back and only sparring — was rather insulting. It shouldn't have been close, but it was. Kamika had experience on her side, certainly, but not enough to cover the difference in their power. Weaker than a child... that was insulting in a way too. As it stood, there was no telling who would win in a real battle to the death.

Arcadios could understand the frustrated, strained look on Kamika's face, and the unwilling admiration beneath it. He had felt the same, watching Erza vanquish a monster he had barely survived facing with far more support at his back. At the same time, a knight who couldn't acknowledge another's strength, whether ally or opponent, wouldn't have made it to commander, or in the Garou Knights at all. He and Kamika, and her watching comrades, knew better than to deny Erza's power.

Watching the two of them fight, Arcadios could only be impressed by her strength all over again.

"That girl's something else," Kama commented, coming up to stand beside Arcadios as they overlooked the small training field that Erza and Kamika were using. "Her power alone is insane, but she's used to fighting too — life or death, at that. I heard rumors before, I can see how she made it into your order at that age."

Serious as always, Arcadios only turned to regard Kama patiently. For all that most of the court looked down on the Garou Knights, Arcadios had always treated Kama with the respect afforded to an equal. They held the same rank, after all, both knight commanders. Whether that respect was real or just propriety…

"But you know she's wasted in your order," Kama went on. "What do you say? Why don't you let us have her?"

This time, a frown tugged at the corner of Arcadios's lips, and his brow furrowed in disapproval or perhaps concern.

It was hardly unfounded. The rumors were exaggerations, but they held some grain of truth. The Garou Knights were no place for a child. But Erza was not exactly a child, not really.

"What were you going to do with her anyway? Transfer her into your Cherry Blossom squad?" Kama said, knowing from the small twitch in Arcadios's expression that he had guessed right. "The girl's wasted on patrols, and her squadmates aren't going to like having the princess getting personally involved with one of their knights anyway. Has her captain complained to you about her yet?" Another twitch, which meant a yes. "But your squad only guards the royal family, and that's even more of a waste. Now, if she's with us…"

He gestured broadly. The Garou Knights were few in number and much freer to take "special" assignments, which would be a far better use of Erza's strength.

"We can give her training too, for her magic," Kama added his last point. "Even if she doesn't want to become a wizard, just swinging around a sword isn't going to let her reach her full potential."

Arcadios sighed. "I have considered transferring Erza as well," he admitted. "However. Until such a transfer takes place, she is one of my subordinates and her well-being is my concern. And, if you excuse my bluntness, I have a great many concerns regarding the Garou Knights."

That bluntness made Kama smirk. "What exactly do you think we're going to do?" he shot back. "When the princess visits at least once a week?"

Arcadios didn't answer, but that was answer enough. They both knew it was the most logical, convenient solution.

Down in the training field, the fight reached a conclusion — but no resolution, as Gray called an end to it. Erza and Kamika both stopped, straightening almost unwillingly, and turned to him as Gray approached. Kamika's expression grew slightly chagrined as he began to say something, gesturing broadly.

He was explaining what he'd observed of her magic, and it seemed he was almost completely spot on. 'That quickly? Not bad,' Kama thought.

Cosmos glided over, waving cheerily — she and Kamika most often worked together, and they had adjusted their magics to be more compatible as a result. Observing her would be the natural next step. She was also more vicious than Kamika. Her bright smile shifted into a dangerous smirk as she regarded Erza.

Erza stared back impassively, her sword held loosely in her hand. She appeared barely winded from her rounds with her previous opponent and not even slightly uneasy. Well, Cosmos would wear her down a bit more, and then...

Then it would be Kama's turn to test out their potential new recruit.

~.~.~

"Where exactly are you leading us?" Gray said suspiciously. His gaze, fixed on Kama's cloaked back, strayed for a moment as they passed what was clearly a row of cells, the outline of chains and shackles visible behind the bars.

"Can't you just follow quietly?" Kama grumbled.

"No," Erza declared flatly. "Where are you leading us?"

Her hand lingering near her sword. Ever since their match had ended in her defeat, she had been uneasy and constantly on guard in his presence.

He hadn't even needed to injure her, only slipping past her attacks and sliding the edge of his scythe against her throat once he had been satisfied with his assessment of her skills. If he had been serious, she would have been dead before she even realized what was happening. The awareness that he could defeat her so easily, at any time he wished, settled poorly with Erza's instincts.

But it wasn't fear that she felt, and her tense glare only made the Garou Knight Commander's smirk, hidden under the metal mask he had donned, widen.

"I heard you're looking for dragon bone," Kama said finally.

"Yes, I am," Gray admitted cautiously. "To fill in the damage, it's best to use the same materials, and I heard the White Lily Armor was made using dragon bones. That's all that's left now. ...Why?"

It had taken him another week and a half of intense work to sort out the armor's spells as much as he could hope for and to create a design for the repair ritual. There were still various preparations to be made, of course, but the biggest obstacle remaining was the materials.

The armor wasn't made out of bones, of course. But some must have been infused into it using alchemy, and repairing it would require adding new materials at least close to the original, or the seams would be too obvious and the spells would not integrate correctly.

"Figured out the rest pretty fast, didn't you?" Kama commented. "You sure using the same thing is good? Sure didn't help much against the wyrm."

Gray bristled. "I'm not an amateur!" he snapped. "I know plenty of magic styles already, I just needed to see how you do it here! It's not like I need to know the specifics. I'm going to be remaking it anyway!"

"If you're going that far, Master Kreuz, why not just make a new one?" Kama shot back.

"If I made a new armor, it wouldn't have the history behind this one," Gray gritted out. "An older, inherited tool is always stronger because of the accumulated magic in it. That's why I'm going to remake it, like the nomads do with their tools."

There was a special method the nomadic tribes around Isvan used, which Ur had learned it while traveling with them. Because the tribes had many old, powerful tools the likes of which they were no longer able to create, they had developed a way of reforging those tools into new ones that would inherits the original's properties.

Ur had enjoyed telling her apprentices about those experiences — her time with the tribes, learning from their shaman crafters, how it all compared to Isvan's other styles, and why this was a perfect example of why learning about other magics was so important to a crafter. 'Never stop learning,' she'd lectured. 'Crafting is about finding the right method to create the right tool. Learn as many methods as you can. Each one's another "tool" for you!'

Gray had listened and remembered, of course, always looking for a way to reach his goal, but he hadn't understood, not really...

Scowling, he shoved the thought away and continued ranting, regardless of Kama's increasing amusement.

"And so what if it broke against a wyrm? That's not how defensive properties work in the first place," Gray steamed on. "Monsters are good against their own kind, so you can make weapons from parts of them, but armor doesn't work like that. It might've even been the opposite. Ancient wyrms are supposed to be wyverns that are evolving into dragons, right? If the dragon whose bones were used wasn't defeated by a human and didn't give its blessing to humans, its will could turn to support its… kin, instead of the wearer!"

"How superstitious," Kama said. "You people out east sure believe in some quaint things."

Gray glared at his back. "You could call it two kinds of draconic energy resonating and weakening the protective spells on the armor," he said, "if you don't believe in things like will or blessings. But it's still true."

Of course it was, and any wizard worth their salt could feel it. But baiting him was entertaining, so Kama only shrugged, as dismissively as possible.

"It's your commission. It's on your head if you screw it up," he said, ignoring Gray's quiet growl. "As it happens, I know a place where you can get dragon bone. Might even be the same place they got it originally."

"A place under the castle?" Gray guessed, as they headed down yet another staircase. This one was even more roughly hewn than the last, and even more dark and dank. There were no lamps or even torch brackets left on the moss overgrown walls, but small patches of rough, low-quality lacrima crystals had begun to emerge from the cracks, glowing just enough to light their way.

Mercurius must have been built on the foundation of a much older structure. Something deeply steeped in magic, so thick that it crystallized. Erza had noticed it too, the cadence of her steps faltering a little. The deeper they went, the heavier the ambient energy became, until it was almost stifling.

"That's right. Under the castle, there's a massive cave system. It's been there since before Fiore was founded," Kama explained. "See, this land used to belong to the dragons, and it's where they fought their last war. So when humans first started building here, they sealed it all underground — the dragon graveyard."

The way he tilted his head to look back at them over his shoulder threw his face into unsettling shadow. Gray twitched a little, struggling to maintain his skeptical glare.

"Piles and piles of dragon bones," Kama went on. "But since you're the superstitious sort, I'm sure you can guess. All those dragons dying left behind a lot of malevolence, lingering thoughts of violence and battle... It's easy to get lost or even die down there." He paused. "We use it for training, can't go all out on the surface without the ministers complaining again... and for initiations."

"If it's like that, Gray doesn't need to come," Erza spoke up unexpectedly.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Gray demanded. "I can handle it!"

"I doubt it," Kama muttered.

Falling back a little, Erza drew level with Gray. "You should go back," she said quietly but firmly, her brow furrowed in an uneasy frown. "It's dangerous. I can get it."

"I can—"

"Does it even matter who gets the bones?" she demanded, glaring at Gray. "Is there some requirement?"

"...No," Gray admitted. "It doesn't really matter which ones you bring. And it's fine if it's you, since you're a knight too. But it's my commission. I should be the one to do it."

Erza didn't have a chance to protest further, as they finally reached what must have been the entrance — a set of thick, towering double doors, kneeling statues on either side. When Kama made a sharp gesture, they began to open, creaking slightly.

A low, voiceless groan echoed out from the space beyond, and cold air sluggishly curled around their ankles like an undertow. Squaring his shoulders, Gray marched ahead first, before Erza could stop him.

As she followed after him, Erza let her eyes linger on Kama. The faint light played across the jagged designs of his mask, making them look like the fangs of a beast, and his eyes glimmered under the shadow of his hood. He looked like the grim reaper rumors made him out to be, and Erza's grip on her sword's hilt tightened. Her every sense strained to remain on him when she stepped through doors after Gray. She could almost feel the blade at her back...

But it never came.

"You weren't kidding about it being massive," Gray muttered, stopping at the edge of the platform and staring across the wide open space of the cave, its depths disappearing into shadow. "How far is it to the... Hey! What are you doing?!"

He had glanced over his shoulder back toward Kama, only to spin around fully, staring in shock and rising fury. Erza turned too — but it was already too late. The great doors were swinging shut, already down to only a narrow gap. From the other side, Kama raised his hand in farewell.

"Try not to die before you reach other side!" he called out.

The doors slid shut, the moment before Gray reached them. "You can't do this! You can't just leave us in here!" he yelled, pounding his fist futilely against one of the doors, which let off a strange, dull clang. "What the hell is your problem?!"

There was no answer. The only sound was another deep, low moan from somewhere far into the caves behind them.

Frustrated, Gray hit the door again. Then, took a slow, shaking breath through his clenched teeth.

"Gray..." Erza started to say.

"Sorry," he muttered, "I should have listened and stayed behind. I could go get help then... I don't think anyone even knows we're here." Running his hands over the door's surface more gently, he added insistently, "But I'll figure out how to get out of here. Just give me a bit of time."

"I can't cut it?" Erza guessed.

"It's made to seal magic, so it'll dispel your magic too," Gray said distractedly. "But there's got to be a way to open it from this side too..."

"Don't bother," Erza said, making Gray stop and turn to look at her with a frown. "It's a test."

She had been in enough of those to recognize it. It felt just like being back in the arena, faced with some monstrous opponent while the masked figures watched from above. Can you pass? Can you find a way to win? Can you survive?

The fact that Erza still stood there today was proof that she had never failed. She couldn't afford to fail now either.

She had been thinking it ever since facing the Garou Knights — if the kingdom had people like them, skilled and experienced and loyal, could she be sure of her place? She wasn't blind. She knew she didn't fit in, she saw the frustration and distrust in her captain's and her supposed squadmates' faces. Before, she'd thought they would acknowledge her power, that she had proven that she was good enough by passing the trials.

But if there were other, stronger soldiers...

She couldn't afford to fail.

"There's another way out, and we're supposed to reach it," Erza judged. "If we try to cheat, we'll just get punished. So let's go."

Her expression was cold and hard as she glared out into the shadows, enough to make Gray hesitate to press her further. But she softened a little as she glanced back at him.

"Let's get going," she said. "Stay close to me. I'll protect you."

"...I don't need—" Another low moan echoed from the darkness, making Gray shudder. "L-let's stick together," he conceded, "and get out of here quick."

"We need to get the bones first," Erza pointed out.

For a moment, Gray considered protesting. "...Only if we find some on the way," he compromised.

~.~.~

There was no point in trying to track the wind currents to an exit — the magic was too thick, and the air was constantly moving subtly under some unseen force. Gray's hair stood on end, and his back was tense enough to snap, yet looking at Erza, she seemed more at ease than when Kama was leading them down.

"How can you be so calm?" Gray blurted out without meaning to. "We're trapped in some haunted cave, and there's no telling if there's an exit, or if they'll let us out, or if we're just going to die down here..."

"We're not going to die," Erza said calmly. "I won't let us die. I just need to defeat anything that attacks us."

"That might work for normal enemies, but there's no guarantee you can beat what's down here," Gray said ominously, drifting closer to her even as he glared at another cluster of glowing crystals. "He said the dragons left something behind when they died. It's... not like something you can fight. It just pulls at you, so you walk in circles, or you don't see a cliff until you're already over the edge... Everything down here is already dead. Except us."

"I won't die," Erza repeated. "And I won't let you die either."

Gray sighed. "Like it's that simple," he muttered.

"It's not simple. But I won't die, or I'll die trying. That's all," she said. "What are you so afraid of?"

"...Yeah. There's worse things than dying, huh?" Gray said quietly.

They trudged on in silence, though there was no way to tell if they were actually making any progress. They could have easily been walking in circles, but Erza seemed sure of herself as she led the way. Given her own strong magic, it was possible she could resist the addling effects of the caves. But having high magic power sometimes made a person more sensitive instead. What made the difference...?

Pondering over this, Gray nearly ran into her back when she came to a stop.

"There's some," Erza said, nodding to herself in satisfaction.

Dragon bones, she meant.

They littered the basin ahead, though it took a moment for Gray to realize what they were — the rows of ribs looked like the beams of a ruined building, towering well over of a human's height. Piles and piles, Kama had said, and he hadn't been exaggerating.

"How many is that...?" Gray wondered as they slowly made their way down into the graveyard and among the skeletons. "There were this many dragons in Fiore once? And something managed to kill them all? Or did they kill each other...?"

"It wasn't a human that did it," Erza confirmed, looking at one giant ribcage that appeared to have been caved in by something equally large. However, unlike Gray's uneasy expression, she seemed indifferent to the events of the past. "So?" she asked, turning to him again. "Which one are we taking?"

"R-right. Well, we should take a piece about this big," he said, making a shape with his hands, slightly larger than a forearm's length. "It's better not to break any though, so let's look for one the right size. Other than that... dragons are supposed to have an innate element. The one they used for the armor, I can't really tell what it was, so let's try to find something like earth or metal, or maybe. Just... use your intuition, I guess."

Erza nodded, peering at one of the skeletons around them. "Zapping... lightning," she judged.

"...Just like that," Gray muttered, shaking his head. He was pretty good at judging magic, but Erza's senses were something else.

It should have been easy to find bones that suited their need. Earth or metal or maybe water, and to be honest, any element would have worked. Gray had only made a general guess about that. But intuitively, none of the skeletons they passed felt right.

Some, Gray hadn't even dared to touch, the sheer malevolence radiating from them making him steer away. Erza too was not forging straight ahead in her usual way, looping in her path, her brow furrowing.

The cave was silent except for their muffled footsteps, but Gray would have sworn that something was growling, low and insistent and slowly building.

"It's getting dangerous," Erza admitted, voicing his thoughts. She had drifted closer to him until they were moving nearly pressed together.

"Maybe we should turn back and try circling around this place," Gray suggested.

"No," Erza said, her lips pursing, "I don't think we can do that."

Feeling the pressure at his back, the instinctive knowledge that something furious and hungry was watching their every move for the first hint of hesitation or weakness, Gray thought she might be right. If they tried to turn back, the magic and tension building around them would break.

It might break anyway, of course.

'...I went too far again,' Gray realized, something cold twisting in the pit of his stomach. 'I got obsessed and stopped thinking about the consequences. It didn't need to be dragon bone. I should have settled for using something safer. Coming here was a mistake...'

Thinking that was a mistake as well. His spirit wavered, as if flinching in the face of challenge, and something out there noticed.

The tension shattered, almost physically lashing against them.

There was a roar, like thunder. Deeper, even. It resonated down to their bones — Gray could feel it, despite clapping his hands over his ears. It felt like it was dragging across his insides, harsh and intrusive. It reminded him of— It was almost like—

 _—A dark giant towering over the ruins and the flames—_

Erza crashed into him, just barely managing to shove them both out of the way as something struck the place they had been standing. Dirt and gravel showered them as they hit the ground, hard enough to knock the air out of Gray's lungs.

Through the cloud of dust, Gray caught a glimpse of a massive, spectral shape — a heavy, square jaw, rows of jagged spikes, leathery wings spreading wide. A dragon, translucent and glowing with magic, like the lacrima crystals. A ghost, made of lingering thoughts. Parting its jaws, it roared again.

Gray's mind had gone blank, but his instincts kicked in and he was already scrambling to his feet. His grip on Erza's hand was nearly crushing as he tried to drag her with him in desperate flight — only to find himself pulled to a halt.

Erza was on her feet, but her back was to him. Facing their enemy, sword already in hand, she dug in her heels and refused to budge.

"What are you doing?! We have to run!" Gray yelled.

"You said it didn't work because the dragon hadn't been defeated by a human," Erza said, far too calm. The ground trembled as the ghostly dragon advanced on them, but she didn't flinch, her expression utterly focused and unmoved. "I'll defeat it, and we'll take its bones. That's the best, right?"

"Are you out of your mind? It's a dragon! You beat it — just run!" Gray nearly begged, caught between his terror and his unwillingness to flee alone.

"No," Erza said. "It's just a grudge that was left behind. The dragon is already dead. It was defeated, and I will defeat its last will too."

Then, there was no more time for talk. The ghost dragon was upon them.

Ripping her arm free of Gray's grip, Erza shoved him away and sidestepped just in time to avoid another strike of the ghost's claws. Its thick arm swept across the ground, sending bones and rocks flying. Erza jumped over it, and seeing an opening, leaped with her sword aimed for its neck.

There was a sharp, metallic screech as her blade struggled against its translucent scales. Then, twisting, it slipping aside without making a cut. Her magic too crashed over the dragon's hide like waves against a cliff. For an instance, Erza hung in the air. Before she could begin to fall, the dragon's long serpentine tail swung forward, bashing her aside with the force of a battering ram.

"Erza!" Gray yelled frantically.

She had managed to turn with the blow and, despite plowing into the ground, rolled to her feet. Her sword was still in her hand — but what could she do? Gray had altered it to channel her magic, and only that, unlike the sash she'd used against the wyrm. Here and now, Erza herself fell short — she was unable to do more than crudely strike out with her power, which couldn't begin to dent even a dead dragon.

She couldn't cut it. She couldn't beat it down. Its throat was hard and scaled, unlike the wyrm.

'I wouldn't lose,' Erza thought stubbornly, like a mantra. 'I will win.'

She had to.

—But how?

The ghost rose again, towering over the the bones, the basin, and Erza, and tilted back its head. Light and power gathered between its jaws. This was the magic that the wyrm hadn't had a chance to unleash. But the sheer magnitude of the spell… She wouldn't be able to block or deflect it. The distance between them, after she was thrown back, was too far to close in time to interrupt the attack. If she tried to run, the dragon would turn to follow.

She would have only one chance to dodge. A dash out of the way just as the ghost unleashed its roar.

How wide would it be? How far did she need to go? Would she make it?

Erza shoved the useless thoughts away. There was no time.

Her body tilted, her legs tensing and—

The gravel shifted. Her foot slipped, giving out under her. Erza's eyes widened as she began to fall, caught helpless before the light. Time seemed to slow in horrible realization.

'Now, of all times...?'

The dragon's ghost roared.

"ERZA!"

"Hedge!"

"Paper Blizzard: Grey Dance!"

Three people had moved at once — Gray, running toward Erza, and two others, silent observers who had been hidden in the shadows.

The dragon's roar bore down on them, as Gray reached out his hand. Vines sprang from the ground, thickening and twisting together into a solid, rising wall between the children and the massive spell. Squares of gray paper swirled on its other side, forming another barrier.

Gray collided with Erza, arms wrapping around her instinctively. He squeezed his eyes shut, knowing there was no time to get clear of the blast. Their shadows sharpened, dark and stark against the ground.

But while Erza's shadow remained pointed away, across the ground opposite the light, Gray's turned suddenly — extending toward the dragon and its roar, impossibly long and dark. Something surged out, a wave of stinging, staggering cold that crashed over everything.

Then, silence.

Feeling Gray trembling against her, Erza hesitated to push him away. But what had happened? Where was their enemy? Finally, Gray lifted his head and loosened his grip, allowing her to do the same. They turned together, to where the dragon had been.

It was still there. But, like everything else around them, it had been covered with a layer of ice. The rocks, the lacrima crystals, the half-formed wall of thorned vines, the barrier of paper, the ghost — all of it was frozen and still.

"...What happened?" Erza wondered.

Swallowing heavily, Gray tried to form an answer. "It's... it's still..."

They started, Erza scrambling to her feet, as someone landed next to them. It was Cosmos, one of the Garou Knights that Erza had sparred against. Her face was set in a cold, grim expression, lacking her usual sardonic smile. "No time, let's go!" she ordered. "It's going to break loose!"

She was right. The ice shell over the dragon ghost was already beginning to creak and crumble. The thing within groaned and snarled, struggling.

Cosmos glanced toward her partner, who had moved in front of them. "Can you disperse it?" she asked.

"I'll try," Kamika said, pieces of paper already in her hands. "Paper Blizzard: White Dance!"

The white squares flew like a gale, shining with holy magic. Trapped, the ghost howled.

Cosmos had grabbed hold of the children, hauling them away. But while Gray hurried along, stumbling a little, Erza ripped her arm free of Cosmos's grip and spun around, back toward their enemy. "Hey! Newbie, wait!" Cosmos yelled, futilely.

Erza's sword was still in her hand, and it gleamed as she brought it to bear.

If she couldn't cut it or crush it, she would have to pierce it. That was what Erza decided. She wasn't stong enough to overcome it. She didn't have the skill of a swordmaster. But she could compress all her magic into a single point and—

Erza drove her blade into the ghost's chest. Made brittle by ice and weakened by holy magic, the hard scales resisted for a moment and then gave way, Erza's sword and her magic thrusting deep into the phantasmal form.

There was a sharp crack.

The ice shattered as the ghostly dragon shrieked in pain and fury. A storm of glittering dust and wisps of half-formed magic washed over the cave, the bones and the humans, momentarily blinding and deafening everything.

Erza was the first to straighten, sheathing her sword and taking a step forward, while the others looked around cautiously. "Is... Is it gone?" Gray wondered, letting Cosmos haul him up.

"Fo now," Kamika allowed. "But it'll be back. It's not something that can be killed." She exchanged a look with Cosmos, more white paper clutched between her fingers at the ready.

Cosmos snorted. "That's why we can keep training against them — they always come back. But even we're not crazy enough to do it alone! What's wrong with your head, rookie? Hey, are you listening?" she called out to Erza with growing agitation.

It took a moment for Erza to answer, preoccupied with scanning the ground in search of... a piece of bone a little larger than her forearm. Hefting it up, she finally turned back to the others. "You weren't testing me to see if I could win?" she asked, frowning a little.

Palming her face, Kamika sighed. "I told you she noticed us," she muttered.

"Are you crazy? You're supposed to just get through! Run!" Cosmos groaned. "She's got no sense of judgement at all! Is she really going to be one of us? She'll get herself killed on the first solo mission she takes." And in the Garou Knights, most missions were solo.

"There's no helping it, the commander's made up his mind," Kamika said.

"What are you talking about?" Erza asked, her eyes narrowing.

"Let's head back for now," Kamika went on. "Maybe he'll change his mind. I think she might have failed the initiation."

"You can't fail, it's hazing, not an actual test. It's just about seeing if you've got guts enough in the face of death," Cosmos grumbled, dragging Gray along with her as she began to move. "You just watch, he's going to make someone babysit her. It'll probably be us."

Kamika only shrugged one shoulder, not precisely disagreeing. She reached out toward Erza, trying to guide her along as well, only to be shrugged off and met with a sharp glare. "What are you talking about?" Erza repeated. "It wasn't a test?"

"Look, just ask your commander, or ours, when we get back," Kamika said, sighing again. "This isn't the time or place. The longer we're here, the harder it'll be to fight our way out. Now that we started fighting, the spirits have gotten stirred up. We need to get going."

Erza looked like she was willing to take her chances, but Gray's quiet voice made her hesitate. "Erza," he called out. "Let's... Let's just go, okay? We got what we need, right?"

Pursing her lips, she stared at him for a long moment, then finally ducked her head in concession.

Wisps of magic were already rising and curling weakling around their legs as they set out again. Something unseen moaned, coming closer. White paper, shining with holy magic, swirled around the group as Kamika readied for battle, and thorned vines slithered out of Cosmos's sleeves. Looking at them, ready to protect the two children between them, Erza felt the itching urge to draw her sword and take point.

But what good would it do? Her power alone wouldn't be enough to pierce the dragons' scales. She would have been lost if the Garou Knights hadn't stepped in. And not just her. Glancing at Gray, Erza looked away quickly.

It had been a test for her, and she'd gotten him involved. Or had she seen a test where there wasn't one, and dragged him into danger without any reason? Either way... At least her failure hadn't cost him his life. And even if she couldn't do anything to help fight, she could at least make sure he got out safely.

Silently, she reached out to take his hand.

It took a moment for him to respond, his fingers curling around hers only stiffly. But his returning grip tightened until it was nearly bruising.

~.~.~

Erza was uncharacteristically meek as she entered Arcadios's office. For all of her strength, she was still very young — just a child, and Arcadios couldn't help frowning as he regarded her.

Surprisingly, Erza spoke first. "I failed, didn't I?" she said. "The test down in the cave. Do I... have to leave the knights now?"

Taken completely off guard, Arcadios coughed and cleared his throat. "I wasn't pleased to hear about that," he said. "Don't misunderstand — I wasn't pleased that Kama went ahead with something like that without consulting me, while you are still one of my subordinates. Even if he and his people were observing you, even if it's a tradition for them to make their new recruits run that kind of gauntlet, he was out of line."

Something about his words had made Erza flinch, her face going blank and too controlled. Thinking back over what he'd said, Arcadios winced. 'While you are still one of my subordinates' — when he hadn't explained why she might not be in short order.

"...Let me start from the beginning," he said. "Her Highness told you that there are two orders of knights in Fiore, correct? It has been suggested that you transfer from our Katou order into the Garou Knights. They specialize in the use of magic in combat, and they could help you bring out your full potential. And... it is a waste to assign you to normal missions among our order. As it stands, you are often pulled away for other duties, which is not a normal state of affairs... In the Garou Knights, you would have much more freedom to take action as needed."

Erza listened with an unreadable expression. "I don't fit with the others," she judged, "and it's causing problems."

"That is... not incorrect," Arcadios admitted. "But you are one of my subordinates too, and I will support you as much as any other knight serving under me. If you wish to remain with the Katou Knights, I will not force you to leave. Kama got ahead of himself, putting you through their initiation without even approaching you as a candidate. It is your decision. If you wish to remain, we will find a better place for you here."

'But I'm in the way. It would be better if I left,' Erza guessed. And... Arcadios was saying that now, but how long could his goodwill last? He'd already made many allowances for her, letting her into the training and the trials, dealing with her captain, covering for her when she and the princess got in trouble...

"Take some time to think it over," Arcadios said. "I know the Garou Knights didn't leave the best impression, but they could help you become stronger, more than we can. Kama wouldn't have done that if he didn't believe you capable of making it through. If anything, it sounds like you were much stronger than they expected—"

"...I'll go," Erza said quietly.

"Yes, go ahead and take the rest of the day off," Arcadios agreed, misunderstanding that she wanted to leave.

"No. I'll go to the Garou Knights. I'll join them," Erza repeated.

Arcadios hesitated, pursing his lips. "You don't need to make your decision now..." he tried to say, but Erza's flinty stare made it clear she had already made up her mind. Arcadios sighed. "I see. Then if you are certain... I will handle the administrative changes, and Kama will explain the changes in your duties and assignment. We will hold the official transfer in a few days. Do you... have any questions?"

Erza started to answer a negative, only to change her mind. "Can I still get weapons from here?" she asked, refusing to meet Arcadios's gaze.

She didn't see the way his expression softened minutely, as he easily guessed what she was really asking. "Of course," he said. "The Garou Knights have no armory and they rarely use their quarters. If you need anything, we will assist you. After all, we are still comrades in the service of the crown."

Erza only nodded slowly, her expression still distant and blank.

~.~.~

Gray managed to stop himself from jumping when Kama stepped out of the shadows almost right beside him. Instead, he clenched his fists tightly and tried to keep his breathing even.

"You don't need to get so worked up. I'm not going to do anything," Kama said, his tone faintly amused, but his face still hidden behind his mask. "I won't even ask what you've got hidden in your shadow — though that was quite a show back there."

Shoulders growing even more tense, Gray didn't respond.

He had known the Garou Knights would notice — that the sudden ice magic that had frozen the ghost dragon had come from him, in a way.

"But you do know how dangerous that is, right?" Kama went on. "Sealing something in your shadow put it close to your soul. It's only half a step away from sealing it in your body. And it's unstable too. It came out by itself, didn't it? Because you were in danger."

"I know," Gray said, glaring down at his hands. "But I couldn't leave it there, and I couldn't just carry it. I can't risk someone stealing it either. It's... a weapon I made. I have to take responsibility for it."

'Something like that, at his age?' Kama thought, hiding the slight widening of his eyes under the hood of his cloak. 'That was stronger than Kamika's Silver Dance, and it wasn't even properly unsealed, just a small tremor of its power. This kid... Why was he able to make something like that? Why did he try to, in the first place?'

Well, at least that explained how he was able to work on the White Lily Armor, if he had that much experience with high level weapons. And that meant he had probably done the sealing himself.

If it wasn't something dangerous planted in him by a third party, as Kama had considered might be the case, then it became a personal matter. Among the Garou Knights, they had their share of secrets. Kama could respect that — enough to only keep a close eye on the kid and investigate quietly, in any case. There was no need to make a fuss over just a secret past. At least not until they knew what it was.

Making a sound of acknowledgement, he turned to go. "Don't go walking around alone at night," he threw back as he vanished into the shadows. "It would be a shame if we ended up with a few blocks frozen just because you got mugged."

Gray scowled bitterly at the now empty room. "It's not like I'm helpless," he muttered. "Like I'd get taken out by some mugger! ...I'm not that stupid. Not anymore."

~.~.~

Erza's lips twitched in amusement despite herself, as she watching the scene in front of her. Gray was supposed to be making a last circuit of the ritual area, but...

"We're starting quite early, aren't we? It's not even dark yet. When you said you would be using the moon, I expected it to take place at night," Hisui noted with excited interest, trailing after him.

"It's the full moon, so it rises at sunset and sets at sunrise. The effects won't start until it clears the mountains, but the ritual needs to be ready before that," Gray explained, keeping his attention firmly on the black lines of the magic circle he'd drawn across the flagstones of the courtyard he'd requisitioned.

"You're using the full moon because it's also white? Or is there another reason?" Hisui pressed. Following nearly on his heels, she almost ran into him when Gray stopped to check one of the fountains that circled the plaza.

"Yeah, basically," Gray admitted, leaning inside and pausing for a moment to feel the flow of energy around the catalyst he'd placed inside. "Usually, a new moon might be better for recreating something, since it ties into the concept of new birth, but the full moon gives off more light and magic, so it'll be better for stabilizing and melding in the new parts."

"The moon is good for stabilizing? And when you say that, you mean…" Hisui prompted.

"When you alter an object, by crafting a spell onto it, you create flaws and instability," Gray said, distractedly resuming his trek. "The magic has to be integrated into the very substance of the tool, and often you have to change its composition on a fundamental level using alchemy. But that causes impurities in the object."

Hisui had to take a moment before asking her next question, as both of them carefully jumped over one of the white banners spread across the ground, the same ones Gray had used to extract the spells on the armor back in the storage room. "Like flaws in a gem, or in the weave of a fabric?"

"Right. Those impurities make it brittle and interrupt the flow of magic power through the tool, which lowers its effectiveness, but more importantly quickly degrades the tool's stability." Getting into the subject now, Gray actually turned to better present his explanation, raising one finger in a classic lecturing pose he had to have copied off an adult. "If you just craft a spell onto something or use it to channel magic, it'll crumble quickly. So to avoid that, you need to stabilize the tool as part of the creation process. Water naturally harmonizes and smooths away impurities, and in this case it'll help merge the old spells and materials with the new."

"That's why you said you'll be leaving it in the water for a month after this," Hisui nodded in understanding.

"A month might seem like a long time, but it's a moon cycle, so…" Gray spread his hands. "It links."

"That's fascinating," Hisui said earnestly.

The honest praise made Gray sputter a little, coughing awkwardly and looking away in an attempt to hide the flushed rising across his cheeks. "N-no, well, I mean, yes, it is," he stammered. "Anyway, I don't know why you want to watch, but it's not going to be anything that amazing. This isn't a flashy kind of magic, and it's not interesting to see."

"I think it's pretty interesting to watch," Erza spoke up, making Gray glare and Hisui beam.

"Fine, I don't care," Gray declared. "It's time to start anyway. The moon is about to rise."

It couldn't be seen over the mountains, so that was something only a magic user would be able to tell. But given his experience, Gray could judge it easily. As the three of them moved out of the courtyard, Hisui gestured to a servant and quietly gave the command.

They didn't speak further as they waited. Straining her ears, Erza could just make out the distant hum of the capital itself, but the palace gardens were empty and silent, the only sounds the soft rustling of the many plants in the gardens around the plaza.

Soon, water began to bubble up in the fountains, splashing softly. As the sky darkened in twilight, the lacrima lamps came aglow, their light reflecting on the rising water in the basins. When the first sliver of the white, round moon appeared over the distant mountains, the water lapped over the fountain edges and overflowed onto the flagstones.

It slowly spread over the courtyard, seeping down the cracks between stones and over the lines of the magic circle, which shimmered gently. Finally reaching the white banners that had been laid out like the rays of a star or the spokes of a wheel, the water began to soak into the cloth. Unlike the magic circle, the broken, interrupted writing of the old spells started to smear and run, splashes of black and gray darkening the white fabric and the water.

The lines and symbols of the magic circle were glowing clearly now, and faint motes of light rose from the lacrima lamps. Not just the ones around them, Hisui realized, looking up toward the castle's spires. From all the lacrima crystals across Mercurius, and even from the ground below — like fireflies, wisps of magic filled the air and danced over the smooth surface of the water.

The clouds of dark ink had dissolved completely now, leaving the white banners once again clear — until new spell writing began to appear on them, from the far ends crawling toward the center, where the armor itself lay.

It had been wrapped in white cloth as well, the dragon bone they had brought back filling in the gaping chest cavity. The pieces, bound together, resembled a mummy, or the carved lid of an ancient king's coffin. Reaching the center, the spell writing wrapped across the bindings as well and began to sink into the armor, which glowed faintly even through the cloth.

Gray, who had been kneeling on the low wall around the edge of the plaza, let out a quiet sigh of the relief as the spells anchored. They would need the rest of the night to sink in completely, and he would monitor it all the way through just in case, but this had been the most uncertain part.

"Your Highness," Erza called quietly, gently tugging at Hisui's elbow.

Glancing at her, Hisui nodded. "I suppose we should retire for the night," she said reluctantly. She had been mesmerized by the light and the energy in the air, but now she realized that the moon was already climbing high over the city.

With a last look at the scene of water, light and magic, Hisui let herself be led away. "Magic," she whispered to herself, "is really amazing."

Silently, Erza agreed, about Gray's magic, at least.

~.~.~

 **Appendix: Names**

Since Edolas counterparts had different last names, I figured the characters in this AU should have different last names too!

 _Gray Kreuz_ \- In canon, Heart Kreuz sells clothing for young women, but Erza forces them to make armor for her. In this case, Gray is the armorer of sorts, so he owns Heart Kreuz. Kreuz is, hopefully, "cross" like the one he wears in canon.

 _Ur and Ultear Krone_ \- Whatever nationality Gray (and Silver) is, Ur and Ultear are the same. Krone should mean "crown" and comes from Ultear's canon spell, Rosen Krone.

 _Lyon Saphir_ \- I don't know if Lyon will even appear, but his AU name comes from the real name of Dist in Tales of the Abyss, Saphir Wyon Neiss. I think you can guess the meaning of "saphir," which can be French to match Lyon's general naming theme.

 _Erza Senketsu_ \- Written as "fresh blood." It was something one of the other gladiator slaves called Erza due to her bloody reputation. It comes from Tales of the Abyss, where Asch's title was "Senketsu no Asch," localized as Asch the Bloody.

 _Simon and Kagura Mikazuki_ \- Very close to canon (Mikazuchi), haha. But this actually means "crescent moon."

 _Hisui and Toma L. Fiore_ \- Only the middle initial changed. "L" is for "Luz," I believe, like ToA Natalia's "Luzu Kimlasca Lanvaldear." I thought about changing the last name too, but since that's tied to the country name, I got too lazy.

 _Arcadios Dinoia_ \- He had no canon last name. This one comes from Alexei in Tales of Vesperia, who was also a knight commander. That's the only similarity though.

 _Gen Lambert_ \- The knight in charge of the armory. Due to his injuries, including losing an eye and a leg, he is unable to take missions any longer. Gen seems like a name old "veteran" characters often have. Lambert is the name of the knight dog in Tales of Vesperia: First Strike. I imagine "Gen" looking a lot like Nylen, the dog's owner, but with a missing eye too.

 _Jude, Layla, and Lucy Almathis_ \- This is Jude's last name, which makes it very close to Jude Mathis from Tales of Xillia. Incidentally, Layla's maiden name was Maxwell. That is a song reference, like Jude, Lucy and Layla, and the last name of Jude Mathis's love interest. Maxwell is also a recurring summon spirit.

 _Grammi and Brandish Ondine_ \- From the summon spirit Undine.

 _Freed Cecille_ \- From Tales of the Abyss's Jozette Cecille. Since it's a variation of Cecil, which means "blind," I thought it's a bit suitable. The rest of the Thunder Legion doesn't have last names, which is common among wizards, since they are often disowned by their parents or run away from home.

There may be others as well, as we go along.

~.~.~


	4. Past and Future

**Notes:** A chapter of nothing but backstory infodumps, whoops. Let me know if you have any questions, I can make another Appendix entry to clarify.

~.~.~

 **IV. Past and Future**

Kama was the last to arrive, earning himself a flinty glare from the Minister of Defense, Darton, as he slipped into the small audience chamber and sealed the door behind him. It was understandable, since Kama had been the one to request a meeting in the first place.

"Now that we're all present," Darton said waspishly, once Kama had joined him and Arcadios in front of the king, "let's begin. What was so troubling that you had to request this meeting?"

"The mission we were assigned a year ago, to investigate the strange reports from the southern coast, and also another long standing mission for the Garou Knights," Kama said, "I can now report their completion. We were finally able to reach it — the phantom tower. Or at least what is left of it."

As the closest Fiore could claim to magic specialists, the Garou Knights were traditionally charged with addressing any strange, magical phenomena reported in the kingdom. Unconfirmed sightings, unexplained disappearances, mysterious lights, unusual weather patterns — all of it was their duty to investigate.

Most of it was just rubbish, of course, but there was no way to be certain. It could be a farmer's wild imagination, but it could also be a powerful monster awakening from hibernation, or an unknown wizard who had crossed the borders, or a relic from one of the old civilizations, or even some anomaly in the natural flow of magic across the land.

Many of those investigations never reached a conclusion. For decades, at least, the so-called phantom tower had been one of those.

"That… folktale?" Darton said dubiously, more wrinkles appearing on his weathered face as he frowned. "Why did you request a meeting about such a small matter?"

"A phantom tower? It has a familiar sound to it, but I can't quite recall what it refers to," Toma mused.

"Yes, Your Majesty," Arcadios said. "There is a rumor of a tower that can be seen sometimes over the southern sea, but there was no record of an island there, and no one could reach it. It's been circling the area for a number of years now, but since it did not present any known threat, we did not put priority on it. There are many unexplained phenomena, after all."

The corner of his lips twitching downward in displeasure, Kama had to nonetheless agree. "The knights at the time confirmed that this tower did appear in the distance during full moon nights," he said. "But they couldn't reach it either. There was any number of things that could have caused it — it might have been an ancient ruin of some sort, from Kuril or even the Yakuma, or a mirage from lingering magic. Things that would have no effect on the kingdom."

So they had left it be, focusing their limited resources on more pressing matters. The king nodded in acknowledgement and gestured for Kama to continue.

"However, about a year ago, we received numerous reports of a bright light off the south coast and a loud sound, like a gong — a magic explosion, based on the descriptions," he said. "Residents in Hargeon, Margaret, the Akane area all described the same phenomenon."

"I recall something like that," Toma said, nodding again.

"We thought it might be something from Bosco, or Minstrel," Darton said, his brow furrowing in recollection. "But our people reported that they were just as confused." His frown deepened. "The Runic Order investigated too. They said there was no sign of malevolent magic."

"They say that often," Kama snorted. "I thought the two things — the tower and the light — might be connected, based on their location, so I had my knights scout the area regularly. After a while, we began to notice an increasing disturbance in the atmospheric magic."

"A delayed effect?" Arcadios guessed, his eyes narrowing.

Kama shrugged. "In a way," he said, but didn't elaborate. "After about a year — that is, a short while ago — we were able to finally get past the disturbance, to the epicenter. There is indeed an uncharted island in the middle of the sea, and the remains of a tower in the center. That light was almost certainly the spell that destroyed it, and the disturbance came from the barriers around the island decaying."

There were several long moments of silence as the other three men considered his report.

"Let me see if I understand correctly," Darton finally spoke. "An unknown group has been present off our coast for years — decades even — doing something we have no knowledge of, and they have now been destroyed by someone else, whom we also have no knowledge of."

"It's so troubling I had to request this meeting," Kama dryly echoes Darton's earlier words, spreading his hands.

Arcadios let out a heavy breath of frustration at his insolence, but the king ignored the byplay. "Are we certain there was someone there?" Toma said. "It might still be just some remnant of the Kuril or another civilization. They left behind many dangerous, unknown things."

"No, there were people there, a year ago," Kama said. "It's hard to tell with the decay and the destruction, but I would guess they had been there for a while before. All we found were bodies, of course. Anyone who had survived left long ago. If there were any barriers against that, they would have fallen first."

He could see Arcadios hesitate, picking up on the implications of his words, turning them over in his mind, and making the same connection, even if it was based more on intuition than any evidence — the implication that there had been someone who had escaped, that those people would have reached land a year ago, and also, the implication that those survivors hadn't been at the tower willingly.

Kama didn't say it, but the shackles on some of the bodies had been easy to recognize.

One year ago, someone who appeared out of nowhere, with overwhelming power and far too much experience in combat… Arcadios's jaw clenched.

"As for the esteemed minister's points," Kama went on, "we weren't able to determine what the purpose of the tower was, or even who constructed it or how. Regarding the identity of the people there... we only found this symbol in several locations."

Reaching into his cloak, he held out a tattered, faded scrap of cloth. Embroidered on it was a symbol roughly in the shape of a V, with a horizontal slash through the middle. From another angle, it resembled the triangular head of a beast, with horns curling up.

"...It's unfamiliar," Arcadios admitted, momentarily pulled out of his musings. The king nodded in agreement.

Surprisingly, Darton hesitated — a rare occurrence for the old hawk. "I've seen it before," he said slowly, reaching out to take the scrap of cloth, "but..."

"This is a troubling matter, of course," the king spoke up, "but whatever this tower was, it's gone now, and we can't even say for certain whether it would be considered part of Fiore's territories, if it is uncharted and in the center of the sea. For this kind of incident, we can report it to the Runic Order and let them sort it out, wouldn't you say?"

Kama stifled a sigh. Tome L. Fiore was a good, kind man and a passable ruler. But his tendency to shy away from problems was the real troubling matter. Sometimes, he could understand Darton's overly aggressive nature, formed no doubt at least in part to compensate.

"There's no need to report it," he said, "the Runic Order just arrived there, a little after us. That's why I had everyone pull out. As for whether letting them sort it out is enough..."

"We will continue to investigate," Darton said firmly. "But there's no action we can take now, and there's no point in causing pointless panic."

In other words, they wouldn't be sharing this with the rest of the court or cabinet. No one protested that, easily imagining the furor, the politicking, and the general nuisance that would follow, without producing any useful results. In any case, it was the outcome Kama had expected and why he had requested a private audience first.

But as they departed from the audience chamber, Kama and Darton exchanged a look — for once on the same page.

They hadn't addressed the minister's final point. The question of who or what had destroyed the tower…

There was one lead that Kama could still try. 'She's probably setting out at this point,' he thought. 'I'll ask after she comes back.'

He wasn't looking forward to it. He might have been callous, but interrogating a little girl was hardly his idea of fun either. Times like these, Kama wondered why he had ever accepted the position of commander.

~.~.~

"Now lift your arms, move them all the way around. Is it tight anywhere? Loose?"

Erza obediently followed Gray's instructions, taking a variety of poses, but her expression showed a growing exasperation. "It's fine," she said. "Just like it was when I tried it on before. You said you were just going to finish the spells. That wouldn't change the size, right?"

"Well, no," Gray admitted, nonetheless continuing to fussily tug at the bindings of her breastplate, "but..."

No longer able to hold back a heavy sigh, Erza stared at him meaningfully. Gray froze, staring back — until he cracked and looked away, a sulky, frustrated expression on his face. "...But I finally made it," he mumbled. "It has to be just right."

With the crown's commissions out of the way, and with his own payment and Erza's increased stipend as a Garou Knight, they had finally been able to make good on Erza's order from months ago — a real set of armor.

Well, calling it a "set" was perhaps going too far. They had settled on just a breastplate, pauldrons and tassets, to cover her torso without weighing her down or getting in her way, since Erza wasn't used to wearing any armor at all yet.

Her small size meant they had gotten the pieces custom made, with Gray giving the specification to better match the spells he would be crafting. Had he done it right? While he had a theoretical knowledge of blacksmithing and armor, he wasn't a blacksmith himself and he had never given specific orders to one before either. He'd tried to listen to the man's input and to explain what he needed well, but what if his goal to make it better for accepting magic had also make the armor weaker somehow? What if...?

Erza cleared her throat pointedly.

Dragged out of his brooding, Gray blinked — and realized he had been staring fixedly at her chest, his hands had been resting splayed across her sides. There was the hard metal plate between them, of course, but... Gray felt a hot flush rise of his cheeks and quickly backed away.

"You made it," Erza said, patting the chestplate lightly, over the place where his shop's sigil had been engraved — at her insistence. "That means it's just right."

She sounded absolutely certain, enough to drive every thought from Gray's mind and leave him staring in bemusement. "...Why?" he wondered helplessly.

Erza huffed. "The things you make have never failed me," she said, like it was something obvious. "They've saved my life. So I know this will too — and this." Reaching over her shoulder, she gripped the handle of the spear on her back — one of the set that the knights had commissioned from more dragon bone, and perfect for hunting the draconic wyverns that still plagued the kingdom. "I'll treat them with care."

"Don't be stupid. They're tools, not decorations. You're supposed to use them," Gray snorted.

"Then I'll use them well," Erza agreed, smiling.

Tentatively, Gray smiled back.

The moment was broken when someone called out, "Hey, lovebirds! Are we going or what? Those wyverns aren't going to exterminate themselves!"

Gray stammered helplessly, red spreading across his face, while Erza turned to glower over her shoulder at the speaker — a tall, thickset man with a bottle clutched between his teeth. Neppa, another Garou Knight, who had been assigned to accompany her, along with a company of Katou Knights that was now waiting impatiently by the city gate. Unconcerned with Erza's sharp glare, Neppa raised one eyebrow.

"I suppose it's time to set off," Erza admitted grudgingly. "I'll see you when I get back. There's... something I need to ask you."

She avoided Gray's gaze, lightly touching the scabbard of her sword with a frown. Without waiting for a response, she turned and hurried away.

Gray watched her go, his eyes also dropping to the sword at her hip.

~.~.~

The sign looked just like Erza had described it, a glimmering silver cross and a vibrant crimson heart.

"Your Highness..." one of the knights who had been sent with Hisui called out tentatively, as she made her way toward the door.

"It's fine," she assured them. "I've sure Master Kreuz's workshop is perfectly safe. He must have protections in place against those of ill will. Please wait here while I talk to him."

She said the last part firmly, with the tone of an order, and the knights hesitated to disobey. The bell above the door also rang just like Erza had described, and the interior of the shop was just as narrow, but a little less bare. More than one high class young lady had sent him a picture of herself in a dress he'd made, and Gray had hung them up for lack of anything better to use.

Hisui supposed he didn't quite understand the implications that had in Fiore. It made him look like a playboy in the making, she thought with an amused smile.

Gray himself was seated behind the counter, but he didn't seem to have noticed her, bell and all. Furious scribbling, interspersed with frustrated muttering, drifted from him as he pored his attention onto several sheets of paper, strewn across the countertop.

Compared to Erza's descriptions, Hisui was surprised to see him able to reach the counter at all. He must have placed something on his chair to raise himself up.

Her smile taking on a slightly devious edge, Hisui kept her footsteps muffled as she crept up to the counter. "...bellflowers, maybe? No, that doesn't work…" Gray was muttering to himself. Close enough now to catch a glimpse of his drawings if she stood on her tiptoes, Hisui saw what looked like the design for a ring of flowers, before Gray flipped the sheet over with an angry sigh. "Then maybe butterflies? Those are pretty, right?"

"Yes, they are," Hisui agreed.

Her smile widened as Gray jumped. He instinctively lunged to cover his designs, which made his chair wobble and nearly topple over. "P-Princess!" he blurted out. "What are you doing here? ...I mean, it's an honor to have you…"

His — and Erza's — inability to remember proper manners until two seconds after speaking their minds never quite stopped amusing Hisui. It was a surprisingly childish quirk for a pair who were mature beyond their age in other ways.

Gray didn't wait for her answer, his expression shifting through hesitation, bracing, and then almost fatalistic determination. "I'm sorry, but," he announced puffing himself up like he expected a blow, "I can't accept another order right now, even from the crown."

"Alright," Hisui assured him simply, and they stared at each other for a moment.

"Are... are you sure?" Gray asked. "Even though you're the princess?"

"Yes. I'm certain," Hisui said, nodding. "If it was for the good of the whole kingdom, I'd insist. But if it's just for me, I'm still only one customer. If anything, Papa and I would prefer if you think of us as just customers. ...That said, I didn't come to place an order."

"...Oh," Gray said.

"I heard from the treasury that you asked to be paid out in silver," Hisui went on, smoothing over the awkward pause. "It sounded very interesting, so I came with the delivery."

"It's here?" Even as he asked, Gray was already climbing over the counter. Jumping off and landing next to Hisui, he hurried out of the shop.

Hisui and her retinue had indeed come with a group from the treasury, along with a cart full of pure silver. It wasn't nearly the full total of Gray's payment, but it had been more than enough to draw surprise at the treasury, especially since Gray had specifically requested it not come from coin.

She watched as Gray directed the men and their cargo around the back of the shop, fussing over the quality of the silver and whether the amount was right. "Are you going to make something out of it?" Hisui asked when Gray finally stood back to let them work.

"Yeah, I'm going to be alchemizing silverite," Gray said distractedly, "for... well, I haven't decided yet, but probably a sword."

"...S-silverite?" It was Hisui's turn to be taken completely off guard. "Like in the stories? Stronger than steel, changing shape with a thought, and so holy it can dispel darkness just by its presence? Like the blessed coin the white maiden gave her lover, which protected him from the black maiden's evil spell? That kind of silverite?"

The torrent of words left Gray staring at her again, but slowly beginning to smile. He was snickering a little by the end, earning himself a look that wasn't quite sharp enough to be called a glare but passed for such with the usually gentle Hisui. "Do you... like fairy tales or something?" he asked.

The princess didn't dignify that with a response. Drawing herself up with wounded pride, Hisui went on, "So I am surprised to hear that you can just... make it, given how incredibly rare it is."

She didn't mean that she doubted his skill or his truthfulness, but Gray choked, quickly losing his amusement. "I've done it before!" he protested defensively. "I worked from purified silver, yeah, but I can make that myself too, it's just an extra step!"

"Ah, that's very impressive, of course!" Hisui hurried to assure him.

Paradoxically, that made Gray's indignation quickly turn into self-deprecation. "It's not that big a deal," he muttered. "I'm just using it because… I can't normally forge a weapon, just craft spells onto one. But silverite can be shaped with just magic, so I can make something directly. And I wanted to… make sure it was just right..."

Hisui nodded. "For Erza," she concluded. It was easy to guess.

Gray glared, but his blush ruined the intimidation factor. "She said the most important thing for her is a weapon that's durable," he went on, pointedly looking away since he couldn't deny that Hisui was right. "But she's always having problems with that because her magic is too strong. Silverite can channel… well, a lot. More than even Erza's magic. Even..." Gray hesitated, changing his mind about what he would say. "Even the power of a god, I heard. That's why they used to make ritual implements out of it."

"Is that why it's considered holy?" Hisui guessed.

"No, it really can disrupt negative energy. Silverite is made from purified silver. Not purified in the sense of fineness," he said quickly, before Hisui could bring it up, "but in the alchemical sense. One of the processes in alchemy is distilling the essence of substances by adding ether to them. Ether is what gives magic shape, it takes on the properties of whatever it's combined with and amplifies that aura. That's what purified silver is — the strengthened essence of silver. And since silver is already strong against negative energy..." a frown passed over his face, "purified silver can even bind a demon for a short while."

"I see, I see," Hisui said, nodding along. "That's why in the Heavenly Records, the white maiden uses a staff of silverite."

"Heavenly Records?" Gray repeated.

"It's a famous old legend in Fiore," Hisui explained. "The story of a white heavenly maiden and a black heavenly maiden, who clashed to determine the fate of a young hero. Their final battle was supposed to have taken place on Mount Zonia… The white maiden used a holy staff made of silverite, which could change shape into different forms and could never be broken, and she gave the hero a silverite medallion that protected him when the black maiden tried to poison his heart."

Hisui didn't mention exactly how many times she'd read the story, or gone to a play of it, or had it told to her when she was too young for either. Or how she'd sometimes imagined herself in the white maiden's place, going on adventures, casting great spells, overcoming darkness…

Just thinking about it was embarrassing. 'It's an important part of Fiore's cultural heritage!' she tried to justify to herself.

"Heavenly, huh…? That could work, maybe," Gray mused, thinking of something. "Hey, could you lend me that book?"

"Which copy?" Hisui asked without thinking. "I-I mean, the royal library has several different versions! It's a very old, popular story, after all!"

She laughed awkwardly. Yes, the royal library had about a dozen copies of the Heavenly Records — all but two Hisui's.

"The one where the maiden is..." Gray gestured uncertainly. "...The most like Erza?"

He edged away from the beaming smile Hisui sent him. "Yes, our Erza is like the hero from a legend, isn't she?" she said. "She certainly needs a worthy weapon! ...More than one even, I'm sure, but exactly how many are you planning to make...?"

They turned to look at the wagon, still half full with crates of silver. "Just one," Gray said.

"Out of all that?"

He nodded.

Magic... was certainly mysterious. "...Can I watch?" Hisui asked.

"No way," Gray refused immediately. "The process is too sensitive. Your magic might leak in and unbalance it." He grimaced, thinking about the sequential exclusion and silencing barriers he'd have to set up before even attempting the alchemization. Keeping his own magic from seeping in wasn't a problem, but there was also that thing...

"My... magic?" Hisui repeated.

"Everyone has some," Gray said. "And you've got more than average. Even if you never use it, it sort of... radiates constantly from you, from everyone. So it might leak into the magic circles. Normally, it wouldn't matter, but this has to be really precise."

"O-oh..." Hisui nodded distractedly, reaching up to place one hand on her chest as if trying to feel the magic supposedly within it.

'I... have magic?' she thought. An awed smile tugged at the corner of her lips. 'I have magic too...'

~.~.~

Long ago, Fiore had been a land ruled by dragons. The place where Crocus was built had been a wild frontier, where no human dared to tread.

That had been then, but that time was long since past. No one knew what had wiped out the dragons, not for sure. The common story was that they had killed each other, in a bloody war that left behind no survivors — there hadn't been a single confirmed sighting of a true dragon in centuries.

But while the dragons were gone, draconic monsters still flourished in the mountains and deep forests. Drakes, salamanders, hydras, and most of all wyverns would often emerge from the wilderness to attack caravans or settlements. The ancient wyrm, the thousand year wyvern that had begun to change, had been one such monster, coming down from the mountains to carve a path of destruction across the kingdom.

No matter what Arcadios or the ministers suspected about the appearance of the wyrm that Erza had fought on the way back from Era — that its arrival was too sudden, that its destruction was too abrupt, that it was simply too similar to the one Arcadios had faced — the incident was treated as only an attack from a monster.

So the solution was simple — a monster hunt.

To calm rumors, both among the public and the court, a mission was quickly organized to cull the wyvern population in the northern mountains and the nearby woodsea.

Since all draconic monsters had an incredible magic resistance — even wyverns, which could not use magic themselves — the duty of facing the dragon-kin had always fallen to the Katou Knights. But given her greater experience, Erza had been also assigned to the mission and the knight squad dispatched — and armed with one of the anti-dragon spears that the crown had commissioned Gray to make with additional pieces of dragon bone from below the castle.

So far, the weapon had proven its worth. She could have taken the wyverns either way, they were no ancient wyrms or ghostly dragons, but the spear cut through their scales and hide as if they were no more than cloth.

Erza cleaned and checked it over meticulously every night when the knights made camp. She had plenty of time to do it — although her superhuman feats and the reality of facing wyverns up close had quelled some of the resentment her "intruding" presence had caused the rest of the squad, the others still left her alone where she sat at the edges of the encampment.

Which suited her just fine, it had been the same while she was still a Katou Knight herself. Erza prefered being left alone. But Neppa, the Garou Knight who had been sent to monitor Erza's first mission in their order, seemed to disagree.

"How many times are you gonna polish that thing?" he asked, dropping on the log next to her. It creaked under his weight and shook, making Erza almost cut herself on accident. "It ain't gonna rust, you know. It's a magic tool."

He received a cold glare that he ignored, taking a long drink from the bottle between his teeth. Among the Garou, Neppa was the best at getting along with outsiders and had the most approachable manner, Kamika and Cosmos's friendship with each other aside. That meant he most often got the assignments for information gathering among the public, anything that required working with other soldiers or knights, and of course overseeing the integration of new recruits.

Thus far, he had spent more time drinking and revelling with the knight squad than paying attention to Erza — at least on the surface. Erza had certainly noticed his assessing gaze when she fought. But this was the first time he approached her.

When it became clear she wouldn't answer, Neppa carried on instead. "It's cute that you want to take good care of the weapon your little friend made," he said, easily guessing her reasons, "but you should probably focus on not being so rough on it instead."

"Rough?" Erza repeated, her attention immediately zeroing in on him.

Neppa made a token effort to hide his smirk behind his bottle. "Oh, yeah. It's a dragon bone weapon, so it's pretty tough. But if you keep going like that, you'll break it in a couple weeks, tops," he said casually.

As a Garou Knight, he had a streak of sadism, naturally, so he could derive some enjoyment from Erza's horror-stricken expression, but the severity of her reaction was odd. Instinctively clutching the spear to her chest, she looked like he'd accused her of making the princess cry.

"So, how about it? Want some tips from your handsome, skilled senior?" Neppa went on, keeping his tone light.

"Yes," Erza answered immediately. Determination sparking in her eyes, she sounded more like she was threatening than asking for help. "Tell me immediately."

Eyebrow twitching a little, Neppa made a point of taking a long drink. ...He regretted it somewhat. He wasn't sure he'd ever felt that close to death before.

"Okay, so here's the thing," he said, smacking his lips as if he hadn't just felt the grim reaper breathing down his neck. "You're going about it backwards. You're strong, so you just decide on what you want to do, and you force it to happen that way. But that's like..." he gestured vaguely, thinking of a good simile and picking something characteristically morbid, "digging a grave with a knife. You might be able to do it, but the knife's going to be dull by the end."

Erza listened to him with almost unsettling focus, her mouth dropping open in realization at the end. "I don't want to make it dull!" she blurted out, completely serious — and aghast.

Nearly choking on the laugh he swallowed, Neppa tried to keep his voice steady, "G-great. So the thing to do is, you have to make sure you use your tools according to their abilities. They're meant to be used a certain way. They have their purpose, what they're good at, but also their limits. So you need to choose your actions to work with that, instead of just doing whatever you want."

He could tell she didn't understand.

"Well, it's like this — you've been killing every wyvern with one blow," Neppa said. "You're forcing that to happen with your magic, right?" Because no one was that good, not at her age and not in general. There was still an element of chance to battles, but she had never had to make two cuts in their entire mission thus far.

"...Yes," Erza admitted. "But—"

"I don't use swords or spears or stuff like that, so I can't tell the details," Neppa spoke over her, "but you need to get a feel for what your weapons can do and work with that. Sometimes, that's gonna mean needing two strikes to win. So you figure out how to make two strikes."

Erza made a face. But she looked thoughtful, if rebelliously so, as she ran her hands along the spear's shaft. "So you don't have to just win," she said. "You have to win with conditions."

"Don't call 'em conditions," Neppa complained. "You're thinking about it wrong. Think of it as having more than one objective. Beating wyverns? One goal. But we've got other goals too. Like not losing anyone. Or getting seriously injured. Or damaging that fancy, probably very expensive spear. It's a routine mission, practically busy work. So the main objective — beating those wyverns — isn't urgent or priority. You have to compromise your weapon or yourself or your comrades? You retreat and try again later." Pulling out a new bottle and uncorking it with his teeth, he added, "Of course, something that's determining the future of the kingdom would be different..."

He took a long swing — he deserved it for all that talking — while Erza turned his words over in her mind.

"...Oh," Erza said quietly. "I see."

It was the same mistake she had made down in the caverns, during her initiation. She thought that passing the test — or what she'd assumed was the goal of the test — was priority, and drove toward that relentlessly. Because she had thought... 'If I fail, it's over.'

That's how it had been before. Failure would almost certainly mean death. There was no room for hesitation or retreat. There was no purpose in doubting or second-guessing. Win. Survive. They were the same.

But it wasn't like that anymore. Even if she failed as a knight, she could still be a mercenary. She should have made protecting herself and Gray her priority. Because losing their lives — that was the end, the real failure. They'd had the option of avoiding dangerous situations. There had been nothing forcing them to fight, not really.

The outside world wasn't like the tower.

'Oh,' Erza thought again, her breath catching as that knowledge hit her again. 'I survived. I made it. I don't have to keep fighting like that.'

She could choose how to fight, when, where, for what goal.

Hugging the spear tightly to her chest, she pulled her knees up and hid her face.

Out of the corner of his eye, Neppa watched her curled up form and hid a sigh. He'd planned to tell her to go socialize more — that was the whole point of joint missions, to build at least some rapport with the Katou Knights. But he supposed he'd let her be for now. The commander and Cosmos hadn't been kidding about her having some heavy past.

Well, they got those kinds in Garou sometimes. It wouldn't the first time their order became someone's home. The kingdom was good to them like that.

If she'd already made a friend, she'd be alright, he thought.

~.~.~

The returning knights were still milling about in the courtyard by the stables, congratulating each other, making plans for what they'd do now that they were finally back in the capital, sharing gossip with those that had not been on the mission. The atmosphere was energized and festive, happy laughter echoing through the knights' wing.

Erza barely managed to escape. In their good cheer, even the men who generally distrusted or envied her had been willing to boast about her victories. Her hair was a flyaway mess from being ruffled so much.

She let out a heavy breath, slumping in relief once she managed to duck inside and successfully flee to the empty corridors of the Garou area. Here, at least, she...

Erza stopped, the muted echo of her footsteps fading quickly into silence.

"You're getting better," Kama commented neutrally as he stepped out of the shadows.

This time, Erza had made an effort not to tense. He was her commander, she reminded herself. Not an enemy. He wasn't waiting for her to fail, for an excuse to dispose of her. Probably.

"Good work on the mission," he went on, even though they had just arrived back and he wouldn't have had time to even ask Neppa how it had gone. "You'll be making a formal report at an audience later, for the ministers and the court. But it's just for show, to make it seem like we're actually accomplishing something..."

The last part was added in a mutter. Kama and the rest of the Garou Knights hadn't been pleased to be recalled to the palace so suddenly, when they were often given much freer rein. The real reason had been to try to prepare for dealing with Alvarez, but there was no action to take on that front either. Things moved slowly, when there was an ocean in between.

Erza nodded indifferently, her lack of concern for ranks and propriety working in her favor, leaving her unintimidated by facing such an audience.

But before she could acknowledge the order and depart, Kama held up one hand to stop her. "There's another matter I need to discuss with you," he said. "You don't need to say anything, and I don't expect you to do anything either. Just listen to what I'm going to tell you."

Slowly, her gaze just short of suspicious, Erza nodded.

Crossing his arms, Kama leaned back against the wall — gathering his thoughts. "Before we were called back because of the Alvarez issues, most of us were investigating a... certain island. It had been protected by strong barriers, so we were only recently able to go there for the first time."

He paused, but Erza's expression was still only focused, with no hint of recognition. Too vague, he supposed.

"Until about a year ago," Kama went on, "a tower stood there."

Ah, there it was. The girl had gone completely still — but he couldn't tell if it was like a rodent in the face of danger, or a hunting cat about to pounce.

"It's gone now, and so is whoever built and hid it," he went on. "We investigated as much as we could, but we didn't find much. But, I can make some guesses. I want you to listen to them... see if they make sense."

He waited until Erza nodded, tension radiating off her. She was dangerous, her magic barely leashed in — but more than ever, she looked like the kid she was too. The fear in her eyes was obvious more obvious now. Kama wanted to sigh. Stuff like this was exactly why he hadn't wanted to be the commander...

"There's always lunatics who experiment with magic," he said bluntly. "And there's always the real whackjobs who take it a step further and experiment on wizards. As sacrifices, as vessels, as just attack dogs... they always do this same stupid thing. They make their magic stronger, and they still somehow think they can control them. Arrogance or insanity, I don't know which."

The disgust in his voice wasn't faked. No matter how much the Garou Knights or even the Runic Order hunted down these lunatics, there was always someone else trying the same thing. It never stopped, the base human greed and stupidity.

Kama's gaze slid back to Erza, watching her reaction.

"If I had to guess, that's what was happening at that tower," he said. By the way Erza's brow furrowed, her lips thinning, she hadn't thought about it, but it made sense in retrospect. "And then, of course, one of their 'experiments' had enough... and with all that power, blew the place to realm celestial." He sighed. "Can't blame 'em, of course."

No, he couldn't blame them, whichever poor soul had finally levelled that hellhole, with its shackled bodies and the heavy aura of despair and hate that still lingered, even after a year. But as a knight, he couldn't just sympathize and let them be either.

Given the size of the structure, destroying it so thoroughly would have taken an anti-city spell. That was the kind of magic only a saint or a demon could use. A loose cannon, in an unknown state of mind, with that level of power... He had a duty to consider them a possible threat.

...If he could even find them.

About the only positive was that Kama doubted it could have been Erza. She was powerful, true, but not quite at that level yet, and she had no talent for range spells.

"Does that sound about right to you?" he prompted, glancing at her out of the corner of his eye.

Erza flinched, her head bowed and her expression hidden. But, slowly, she nodded.

He watched her for a moment longer, considering whether to press her for details. Any hint about who had destroyed the tower, how, where they might have gone could be useful... but how likely was she to know anything? Was it worth unsettling her further?

No, Kama decided. Not at that point, not when there was most likely nothing they could do anyway.

"Well," he said, pushing off the wall and straightening, "that's all I had to say. Turn in your weapon, rest up, and get your report ready. I'll have the servants let you know once the audience time is scheduled."

"Wait," Erza called out, making Kama pause. "Was there... was there anyone there? On that island?"

'You don't know?' he thought, frowning faintly. But that would mean she hadn't left after the tower's destruction, with any other survivors. She would have had to leave before, when the barriers were still in place.

Reading something of his confusion in the silence, Erza said, very quietly, "I... fell. I fell into the sea and..."

...Washed up in Fiore. 'Fell... From the top of the tower? This girl...' Kama thought.

"The inside barriers broke a while back, before the outside ones," he said. "So anyone who survived would have left back then."

"I see..." Erza said, her shoulders slumping tiredly.

There wasn't anything left to say after that.

~.~.~

Erza paced nervously in front of Heart Kreuz, stopping to glance at the shop's door every few moments, only to lose her nerve and start pacing again.

She had promised to come talk to Gray after returning, and it wasn't like she could just... not do it. But even knowing there was no choice, Erza was finding it unexpectedly difficult to actually carry through. For once, she couldn't seem to just barge in like usual, full steam ahead.

Because... what would Gray say? When she'd...

Erza shook her head frantically. No, it would be okay. She'd apologize, and Gray would forgive her and... it would be okay. Even if she'd made a mistake, it wasn't the end.

Nodding to herself, she spun to face the door like it was a monster to conquer and strode purposefully toward it. Her hand closed around the handle and she pushed, ready to bang it open like always—

The door didn't budge.

"Huh?" Erza tried again, jiggling the handle and shoving against the wood. It still didn't move.

It was locked. The shop was closed, the narrow window shuttered.

Erza stared at it in shock and horror. It was... closed? Gray wasn't here? Logically, he didn't have set hours, and he often went out to buy something, or to talk to a client. He could have been at the castle, getting a new order, for all she knew. But Erza was in no state to think logically, and her mind immediately skipped to the most ridiculous, terrible assumption.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry I broke it!" she burst out, scratching at the door like a cat that had been left out. "I won't ever do it again! I'll treat everything with care! Please come back!"

Her caterwauling echoed down the empty street. It was a good thing that Gray had no neighbors to complain about the disturbance.

Someone cleared their throat.

"W-what are you doing...?"

Erza turned slowly, staring at Gray — who was staring at her from where he had been returning to the shop, bag over his shoulder.

The sheer, illogical relief in Erza's face froze him in his tracks. "You came back!" she exclaimed.

"I... didn't go anywhere?" Gray pointed out. "Just to buy some stuff..."

"I'm sorry!" Erza steamed on, not even listening. "I'm sorry I broke the sword you made me! Down in the cave, I—"

"I know," Gray cut her off. He sighed as Erza finally paused, staring at him again. "Did you really think I didn't notice? You cracked it against that ghost dragon, right?"

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to," Erza said, fidgeting guiltily. "I should've retreated, but I didn't think... I didn't think I could stop, so..."

Gray sighed again. "It's fine, I get it," he said. Reaching out, he took hold of Erza's arm and pulled her along, around the side of the shop, toward the back courtyard. "I'm like that too," he went on absently. "I always get all obsessed with one thing and stop thinking about the consequences, or if there's a better way, or if if there's something more important. I guess we're both idiots like that..."

Looking at his back, Erza furrowed her brow. Something about his tone bothered her — tired, but also like he'd accepted it. She couldn't put it into words, but she didn't like it. But as she opened her mouth to protest, she found she didn't know what to say.

They came to a stop in front of a stairwell down into what must have been the shop's basement. Letting go of Erza, Gray fiddled with the lock and slowly levered open the trapdoor.

"You didn't do anything wrong," Erza finally said. "I was the one who messed up. Maybe you get too caught in your projects, but you've never..."

Gray shook his head. Gesturing for her to follow, he started down the stairs, into the darkness. Pursing her lips, Erza fell in behind him.

The stairway was deeper than she had expected, their footsteps echoing down and down for a good while before they finally reached the bottom. Below, it was cool and dry, and the shadowed room the stairs opened up into was surprisingly larger than even the shop above. Several magic circles across the floor and walls glowed faintly, giving only the impression of the shapes clustered near the walls — a desk, perhaps, a chair, a large clay pot, a shelf of indistinguishable objects. Several dark openings must have led to passages headed deeper still.

'A catacomb?' Erza thought.

Gray didn't hesitate despite the gloom, making his way to the desk and turning on a small lacrima lamp. He gestured to Erza again and waited until she was standing next to him, his hand resting on a long, cloth-wrapped shape on the tabletop.

"Here," he said, "this is for you. I just finished it this morning."

He stepped back, letting Erza have full view of the strange object. Based on the cross-like shape... Erza quickly but carefully peeled back the pale cloth, her breath catching as silvery metal glimmered beneath the wrappings.

"This is..."

"A new sword," Gray confirmed. "I made it for you. I guess... you could say it's congratulations on your promotion, or something like that."

The sword was a simple, two edged blade made entirely of silver, only the grip dark with a covering and a few lines of inlay running along the blade. It seemed to hum under Erza's fingers, and she wrapped her hand around it without conscious thought.

It was light, and it fit perfectly in her grip. It was just right for her. Without a doubt, this sword was hers.

"You don't have to use it if you don't want to, but I picked out a name," Gray admitted, fidgeting as Erza turned her awe-struck gaze toward him. "I based it on that story, about the heavenly maiden. So it's name is Heaven's Wheel."

The crossguard was in the shape of white feathers, and it certainly felt holy, glimmering in the faint light. "It's a good name," Erza agreed, smiling widely. "I promise, I'll use this one right. I won't let it break, no matter what."

"It doesn't matter, you can break it," Gray said. He smirked a little, puffing up with pride. "This sword is made entirely of silverite. As long as you bring the pieces together and use your magic, it'll always return to its true form. So you don't have to worry about ever breaking it."

He was taken completely off guard when Erza suddenly pulled him into a tight embrace. Squawking in surprise, he flailed for a moment before going still. "Thank you," Erza muttered, her voice thick with emotion.

Gray patted her back gingerly. "No problem. I'm glad to do it," he murmured. "Thanks for giving me the chance. I'm... really grateful to you, you know?"

"To me?" Erza repeated, pulling back.

"Yeah..." Gray hesitated. "You know you were my first customer. You were the first person to give me a chance. You believed in the tools I make when no one else did. And... it's only thanks to you that other people started giving me a chance too — those noble families, the princess, even the king... So I'm really, really grateful to you."

He hadn't been able to look her in the face the entire time he was speaking, and his blush had gotten progressively brighter, spreading across his neck and the tips of his ears. It was a charming sight. Erza's lips curled, her eyes sparkling even as she felt something warm settling in her chest.

"It's the same for me," she said. "I'm glad we met too. I think I only made it this far thanks to you and the things you made me."

Gray shook his head slowly, his expression growing pensive. "I'm... grateful for that too," he said. "That I, that my weapons were able to help you. Because..." He hesitated again, trying to gather his thoughts. "I really... want to make things that do something good. I want to use what Master Ur taught me the right way, not like..."

His shoulders moved as he took a deep, slightly shaking breath. He didn't want to say it. But if it was Erza, who used his weapons... she deserved to know — that they were dangerous.

"The reason I wanted to learn to make magic tools," Gray said carefully, "was because I needed to defeat a demon. It was... for revenge. I studied under Master Ur to make something strong enough. I didn't care how or what method, as long as I could destroy it... And, after a few years, I was able to. I made a sword."

He didn't dare to even glance at Erza, his hands clenching together nervously.

"But... to get that much power, to make it strong enough, that sword... it devoured the wielder's soul."

"Their soul?" Erza repeated without thinking.

Any magic relating to the soul was regarded with deep suspicion at best. Most was outright illegal. Gray had specifically avoided Era and the Runic Order precisely because of that, because there was a very good chance they could arrest him just for having created it, no matter how young or stupid he had been.

Erza didn't know that, of course. Her concern was different. "You, you didn't use it, did you?" she demanded, looking him up and down as if searching for some hidden injury.

"No," Gray said quietly. "I was going to. I wasn't going to sacrifice anyone else. I'm not..." He hadn't been quite that far gone, even then. "I wanted to use it myself because it was my revenge... Once it was ready, I went to face Deliora. But Master Ur stopped me and... she used it instead."

It had been a sword made out of pure silverite too, strong enough to channel even all the light and power of a soul.

That light and power hadn't extinguished even after the battle was over, the demon crumbling to nothing and Ur's body going cold and still without her soul — her soul which had remained trapped within the sword, exuding a freezing aura all around it.

It had originally been nameless, being only a tool of Gray's revenge, but once it had become the last remnant of Ur... Looking across the empty, frozen ruins, he had chosen its name — Ice Bringer.

He couldn't just leave it there, for anyone to find and take. He didn't have a place to hide it. He couldn't bring himself to even try to destroy it. Taking something with a soul into his own body would have been the height of insanity, so Gray had sealed it into his shadow, its power hidden and suppressed by his own soul.

Of course, if his heart ever wavered, its magic leaked out, as it had down in the caverns. Either Ur was still protecting him, or it was a curse he'd have to bear for the rest of his life. Gray wasn't sure which he considered it.

"That's why," he forced himself to go on, "that's why I want to make weapons that will help people. I want to use what Master Ur taught me for good. Even if it's too late, I..."

He jumped when Erza placed a hand on his shoulder, gripping tightly. Their eyes met, and Gray found himself unable to look away from her calm, confident gaze. "Leave it to me," Erza said. "I'll use them well. I'll make sure everyone knows about the amazing things your master taught you to make."

Finally, he managed to tear his eyes away, another blush creeping across his cheeks. "Th-thanks," Gray muttered. "I'm counting on you."

~.~.~

 **Appendix: Items**

 _White Lily Armor_ \- A magic-infused armor that has been an heirloom of the Fiore royal family for generations. It was created using the dragon bone from beneath the palace and crafted with many protective spells, presented as a wedding gift. It was traditionally worn by a king or queen who took to the battlefield or by their direct representative, but Toma allowed Arcadios, a young knight captain at the time, to use it when he volunteered to spearhead the attack against the ancient wyrm. It undoubtedly saved his life but was heavily damaged in the process. Gray later restored it. This is a canon object, Arcadios wears it during the eclipse.

 _Dragonclaws_ \- A set of spears Gray made from the dragon bones found beneath Mercurius. As only one of a set, each spear has few properties outside of increased effectiveness against dragon-type monsters. Nonetheless, they are still magic weapons and require a certain amount of innate strength to wield.

 _Heaven's Wheel_ \- A sword that can be formed no matter how many times it is broken. Since it is made out of pure silverite, which responds to magic, it may have other possible properties as well. Obviously, based on Erza's canon Heaven's Wheel armor.

 _Ice Bringer_ \- A sword that uses the power its wielder's soul, in the process ripping it out of their body and ensuring their death. The culmination of Gray's search for a way to defeat even a demon. The process and materials he used came from the abandoned lair of a dark magic cult, but it as the strong foundations of Ur's teachings that let him accomplish this feat at a young age. Ur used it to utterly destroy Deliora but died in the process. Since her soul remained in the sword, creating a frozen field, Gray took it with him and sealed it in his shadow. It's named after one of his canon spells. In terms of appearance, it looks like his necklace, which he had used as part of the silver to create it.

~.~.~


	5. Living and Learning

**Notes:** Anyone who read the scrapped chapter three on tumblr might recognize some of the plot points here, which I've reshuffled and reused. But more importantly, I've finished writing everything up to the timeskip, which will follow chapter seven, so we'll have three weeks of timely updates!

~.~.~

 **V. Living and Learning**

"I've decided," Hisui said, setting down her teacup and looking across the table at her father. "I want to learn magic."

Toma paused, forkful of cake halfway to his mouth. "...Yes?" he let out uncertainly.

It was a question, not an agreement, but Hisui beamed. In the end, her father could never refuse her anything anyway. She was going to learn magic.

~.~.~

"Magic?" Arcadios repeated, staring at the king in surprise.

"It's not anything terrible. Learning magic won't besmirch Her Highness's honor," Kama said dryly. "In fact, a number of her ancestors were famous wizards. The only question is who will teach her."

"Yes, and it's a bit of a complicated question," Toma said, wringing his hands. "Traditionally, giving a child to a wizard as an apprentice is equal to fostering, almost an adoption. Some went as far as to trace their lineage through teachings instead of bloodline. Even if Hisui's apprenticeship is much more limited…"

"It will still grant her teacher a great deal of political capital," Arcadios finished.

The king nodded. "I don't want to turn Hisui's wish into a political game," he said pensively. "But it's something that can't be decided casually either. At the very least, we need to lay out the possible options. Kama, among your people…"

"Not a chance," the Garou commander said immediately. "None of us have any capacity for teaching. And I doubt our magic would suit Her Highness."

Toma sighed. "It's a bit of stretch, but not even Erza?"

"That's even worse," Kama said, waving his hand. "She doesn't have any formal training of her own. She just throws her power around. If Her Highness tried it like that, she'd likely end up killing herself."

That was about what he had expected, so the king only nodded. "I would prefer to avoid using any of the wizards in the city," he said. "All of them are affiliated with some guild or family who would use their position for leverage. And there's so few left in the kingdom outside Crocus..."

"The common choice is to send magically inclined children to the Runic Order for tutoring," Arcadios said, though his tone and expression gave away how little that appealed to him.

The Order was highly respected and their neutrality was rarely questioned, true, and they certainly performed vital functions in dealing with the dangers of magic across the continent. But because their reach and influence was so great, no nation fully trusted them — or lacked resentment for their interfering, controlling presence.

True, the Runic Order was neutral in its treatment of other countries. Instead, it favored itself.

Kama snorted loudly, letting his opinion of that be known.

"There is one more option," Toma said, tapping his fingers together in a sure sign that he expected his vassals to object. "Tenrou."

The reaction was as anticipated. Kama barely swallowed a groan, covering his face for a moment with one hand, while Arcadios openly facefaulted. "Master Makarov is certainly an outstanding individual," he said delicately, "but his band were a rather… colorful group. If he or one of his… associates were to train Her Highness…"

There was no telling what kind of terrible habits she would pick up. Habits like leveling half a town to catch one small-time thief whose only magic was to turn invisible. That story was still famous, decades later.

"She'd turn out one wild tomboy," Kama concluded, smirking. "And Darton would probably have a heart attack if you even suggested it. Fairy Tail was a bit before my time, but I've heard the stories. The old commander would always start in on that when he drank… Did they really graffiti Mercurius at one point?"

Toma chuckled awkwardly. "Yes," he had to admit. "My mother was… well, she was rather forgiving toward them. They did a lot of good, but… yes, many people breathed a sigh of relief when they disbanded." Hurriedly, he added, "But that was decades ago now! Master Makarov served admirably as a Saint in the Runic Order, and now as the headmaster of his school on Tenrou. I'm sure he's… settled down…"

He wasn't sure at all, actually, and going by their expressions, neither were Kama and Arcadios. However, it was the best option they had.

They'd have to find a way to break it to Darton gently.

~.~.~

"A magic… school?" Gray repeated, staring at Hisui dubiously.

"Yes, that's right. It's located on an island called Tenrou, not too far off our coast. It's not technically part of Fiore, but Papa gets along well with their headmaster," Hisui explained. "I heard that… well, you know how it is. Most wizards have been leaving to go to Era, for many years now. So there are fewer and fewer left in Fiore, and in the other kingdoms too, to teach children who are magically inclined."

Frowning, Gray nodded slowly. "So when they use their magic for the first time by accident, they don't have anyone to go to," he guessed.

Although everyone had the potential for magic, to a greater or lesser extent, those who were naturally magically gifted tended to spontaneously manifest their powers at a young age. Without any training or intentional effort, they would cast uncontrolled spells, which could range from small, startling things to wild destruction.

Even in the current age, it was a dangerous, traumatizing thing that, in a remote village, could lead to exile, if not worse.

Normally, the closest wizard would step in, to calm everyone and take the new magic user under their wing, but if all the trained wizards had left…

"It was becoming an issue, for a while," Hisui admitted unhappily. "Sometimes, families don't… react well. Magic just suddenly happening, it's frightening for everyone involved. And when there's no one to explain and to help them get it under control… That was why Master Makarov, who had been serving as a Saint in Era, decided to retire and create a school — to take in as many young wizards as he could and give them a place to learn and grow in peace."

Gray nodded along. "Then... you're going to go to this school?" he asked.

"Hm?" Hisui let out a sound of surprised. "No, no, I can't do that. The academy is on Tenrou, and I can't abandon my duties here. I'm a princess of Fiore first and foremost."

"That's good," Gray said without thinking. "Uh, I mean, not that I…" Seeing Hisui's knowing smile, he gave up. "Anyway, what kind of magic do you want to learn?"

"Well…" Hisui fidgeted, clutching to her chest the well-worn copy of Heavenly Records that Gray had come to return to her. "Something practical would be best, of course. Something versatile, like water magic maybe, or telekinesis, or even telepathy…"

"But you really want to learn something flashy, don't you?" Gray guessed with a grin. "Rain beams of light down on your enemies like the white maiden?" Judging by Hisui's blush, he was spot on. Taking pity on her, he added, "Everyone likes flashy magic, there's nothing weird about that."

Compared to what people imagined when they thought of magic — fire and lightning, beams of light, being able to move the earth to your will — something like crafting wasn't particularly impressive. Ur had bemoaned it sometimes, how the more unassuming works of a crafter and the amount of memorization and base knowledge necessary for even just basic proficiency meant there were always relatively few interested in learning her trade.

And every time, that teacher's pet would pipe up about how no combat magic could hope to match the versatility and elegance of crafting... Gray frowned a little, remembering that.

"Did you want to learn something flashy too, Master Kreuz?" Hisui tried to strike back sulkily, going so far as to include the hated title.

Gray still twitched at that, a little. "I guess…" he said, shrugging. He would have certainly liked to learn something powerful and destructive, but not for the usual reasons. "My magic isn't that strong, so it wouldn't have been powerful enough. And there aren't any really strong combat wizards in Isvan anyway. The most famous magic user was Master Ur, so..."

"I think it worked out for the best," Hisui said, smiling. "I'm glad this is the magic you learned. Without it, we might have never met!"

Tentatively, Gray smiled back. "Yeah," he said. "I'm glad too. I guess something good did come of it."

~.~.~

The king waited patiently in an empty, circular room in near the edge of Mercurius. Ceiling high windows lined the walls, letting in the morning sun and showing a beautiful view of the castle gardens. The spired skylight in the ceilig above was topped with a strange crystal that cast a shimmering rainbow of spots across the mosaic floor.

Gray, if he had been present, would have noted how the room was designed to let in as much magic as freely as possible. It was open to every direction and even drew the flow of energy into itself like a well.

Toma, being less versed in magic, only knew that this room had been created for the purpose of serving as the arrival point of incoming Thought Projections — wizard visitors arriving in spirit only, leaving their bodies elsewhere. It had once been common practice, when magic skill was often a requirement for a successful — and surviving — leader, but in recent times it had fallen out of favor.

The headmaster of the magic academy at Tenrou, however, could not very well drop everything to come to Crocus in person. Thus, when the date set in the the letter from Toma to Makarov arrived, a figure materialized in the center of the mosaic circle, ghostly and transparent at first, but slowly growing more opaque and finally taking on a completely lifelike appearance, as if the man was truly present in the flesh.

"Yo, long time no see!" Master Makarov greeted the king casually, raising one hand in a loose salute.

Toma beamed happily, regardless of the impropriety. "Long time indeed! It's good to have you here again, Master Makarov," he said. "And thank you for coming on such short notice!"

"No, no, it's always a pleasure to visit Crocus," Makarov insisted. "Good to get away for a bit too... I love those brats, but they're becoming quite a rabble. I don't know if these old bones can keep up."

"It sounds like they've inherited the Fairy Tail spirit," Toma said. "Do you think they might take on the old name again?" —Elsewhere in the castle, Darton choked on his spit, as if sensing a disturbance.— "Hearing it disbanded when I was a child... it was like the end of a legend. I think I wouldn't mind seeing a new generation of adventurers."

Makarov laughed. "Who can say? I wouldn't stop them," he said. "I always did regret that we didn't have anyone to pass the name on to, back then. All of us were getting too old to be running around the countryside on adventures, but there was no one to carry on Fairy Tail in our place, and we just went our separate ways instead."

"Then how about your grandson? He should be getting to that age," Toma suggested.

"Laxus?" Makarov sighed, drawing a sympathetic look from Toma. "I think he'd prefer to make a name for himself, on his own terms. It might be better for that boy. He graduated recently, you know? Along with the rest of our first class, I suppose you could call them. But then he just ran off! I have no idea where he is." He sighed again. "As far as magic goes, he can more than take care of himself, and he's got a pretty good head on his shoulder, so I suppose he should be alright, but…"

"But you can't help worrying," Toma nodded along, understanding perfectly. Hisui was only twelve, but it was time for her to begin taking on smaller responsibilities as the princess. It was surprising, how reluctant he was to let her take that step, even though Hisui herself was determined.

Laxus, now sixteen, was old enough that Makarov had no argument to stop him from setting out if he so wished. And forcing him to stay when he wanted to leave was bound to end in disaster.

Sighing again, Makarov shook his head. "But enough about my family! So little Hisui wants to learn magic?"

Toma chuckled. "Yes, it was quite a surprise. But she's quite taken with the idea," he said. "I don't see the harm in it. Of course, she can't leave Crocus for it… Do you have anyone who might be able to do it, or anyone you can recommend?"

Humming thoughtfully, Makarov stroked his mustache. "Well, the basics I could teach her myself, with just Thought Projection like this," he said. "Gathering magic from nature, shaping it, the foundations of every magic type are the same. But for the specific kind of magic she learns… I don't know if I can help you there. My brats are almost all magically inclined to begin with, and their magic naturally takes some shape already. I just give them the basics and let them experiment on their own, for the most part."

The first time that the magic of a particularly powerful child-wizard manifested, it was usually in some way — whether water, darkness, changing everything to flowers, or making cakes appear out of thin air — that suited them best. It was possible to turn their inherent magic in a different direction and learn another style, but few felt the need. Using the magic you were most suited for felt natural and would yield the best results. By the same token, that magic didn't require specific training, and they could easily create their own spells.

"Hisui most likely doesn't have a strong inclination like that," Makarov went on. "She'll need to learn a specific style from a practitioner or a tome."

"Just a book would be enough?" Toma asked in surprise.

"If it's a real magic tome," Makarov said. "There's… hm, well, it's hard to explain, but a real magic tome is more than just a book with written instructions. It's not something you can put in words, but the magic of the author clearly appears in your mind when you read it."

"Another kind of magic tool, then," Toma chuckled. Thinking for a long moment, he finally nodded. "I don't think Hisui has decided on a specific magic, and it should be her choice. We'll look for a teacher, or perhaps purchase a tome from Era. That would be a workable compromise. And for now, I would like to take you up on that offer of teaching her the basics. If it's you, Master Makarov, I can feel at ease."

Makarov smiled back warmly. "No, no, it's a pleasure. Working with a sweet girl like your Hisui will be a nice break from those hellions…" The last part was added at a disgruntled mutter. "So! Let's set up a schedule. I'm sure Hisui is very busy, so I doubt dropping by just whenever would work."

"Let's ask her," Toma suggested brightly. "Hisui should be in the library with her friend..."

~.~.~

If the king or Makarov heard the brief scuffle that took place just before they opened the door to the library, neither gave any indication. Makarov's eyes might have lingered on one of the side tables a bit longer than normal, but he turned to beam at Hisui too quickly to be sure. By that point, Hisui had managed to school her perplexed expression into a very convincing smile of her own.

"Sweetheart, this is Master Makarov," Toma declared. "He'll be teaching you magic!"

Offering her own greetings, Hisui curtsied, while Makarov waved away the formalities. None of them spared glance to the small sheet of plain paper that surreptitiously slipped off the side table, along the floor, and under the door, into the empty hallway.

It floated a little further down the corridor before suddenly twisting in on itself and expanding to a side closer to a bedsheet. Two figures stumbled out, one cursing and keeping the other in a tight grip. "Would you stop?" Kamika hissed, giving Gray a firm shake.

He glared up at her rebelliously and mumbled something unintelligible through the hand she'd clapped over his mouth.

"You better not be thinking of biting me or something," she said, narrowing her eyes.

"Mrgh," Gray grumbled.

"Are you going to keep quiet?" Kamika asked. Receiving a reluctant nod, she slowly lowered Gray to his feet and let him angrily pull away. But true to her request, he only glared silently. Kamika sighed. "Don't look at me like that. The boss said to make sure no one from the Order caught sight of you by chance. That old guy might be retired now, but better safe than sorry."

That make him pause. 'That old man was with the Runic Order?' he thought. In that case, it was a good thing they hadn't run into each other, or there was a chance of awkward questions.

But still. Pointedly straightening his shirt, Gray maintained his glare. "Fine, but did you have to drag me out like that?" he complained.

Kamika shrugged, unrepentant. "It was simplest. You're easy to carry," she said, a smirk tugging at her lips as she made a gesture of measuring his still rather lacking height, "very compact."

"I'm still growing!" Gray hissed. "I'll get taller than you soon!"

This was probably true, since Kamika was not a particularly tall woman. But it did nothing to stop the laughter she was only barely smothering. Crossing his arms, Gray pointedly turned away.

"Sure thing, kiddo. You'll be a really lady killer one day," she said with false comfort, before her expression became serious. "It sounds like they'll be having lessons from now on, so it'd be better if you didn't hang around the castle too much for a while. I'll let you know once they have a schedule set up."

Sighing, Gray nodded in agreement. "I was just dropping by... Erza's not even here anyway," he muttered.

"Cheer up," Kamika said, ruffling his hair despite his scowl. "I thought she might take it too seriously again, so I told her that it's okay not to find anything and to come back in a couple weeks. So she'll be back soon and you won't have to be lonely anymore."

"I'm not lonely. You're lonely!" Gray protested.

Kamika narrowed her eyes and raised her fist threateningly. But in the end, she gave up, sighing. She was a bit lonely, true. Getting separate missions from Cosmos was the worst.

Feeling guilty now, Gray gingerly patted her shoulder. They sighed again, in unison.

~.~.~

Erza herself was currently trying her hand at the kind of mission the Garou Knights most often ended up undertaking, the kind they hated the most — the dreaded pointless goosechase of something that may or may not have been magic, or even anything more than some tired, possibly drunk farmer's hallucination.

Specifically, Erza was looking for a dragon.

There hadn't been a confirmed sighting of a dragon in centuries, but there had been plenty of unconfirmed ones. Some had been wyverns, an easy mistake for the common folk to make. Some had been bird monsters in flight. Some had been clouds. Some had been particularly menacing rocks in the twilight.

It was, Kamika explained, another kind of initiation. More hazing, not an actual test, she hastily assured Erza. Well, it was a test of her patience and ability to put up with pointless, fruitless fool's errands.

Perhaps it should have also been a test of her detective and information gathering skills, but given the wide range of... unique personalities and dispositions among the Garou Knights, they relied more on their ability to sense traces of magic to determine if a particular report was the genuine article, a real magical phenomenon that needed further investigation, and Erza's sensitivity to magic was impressive even by their standards.

This particular report had come from a town called Kuchinashi, to the northwest of Shirotsume, in the northern mountain range's foothills. The Katou Knights stationed in the area had been persistently approached by a girl who claimed to have seen a dragon flying overhead when she was out alone on the low mountain slopes.

It would have been unremarkable, the wild imagination of a child, except that the girl had returned every day, insisting that they help her look for it and, after being mocked one too many times, had ended up attacking the knights.

She was just a little girl, so no one had been hurt. But the knights had agreed to file a report to make her calm down.

Well, that was the summary that Erza received when she was assigned the mission, if it could be called that.

Go to Kuchinashi. Question the witness. Scout the area. Make a judgement as to what she might have seen and whether a further investigation was necessary. Go home, make a report.

Erza nodded to herself. Simple — a good trial. Kamika didn't need to have worried so much. Unlike down in the caves, Erza understood the purpose now. She had… probably misunderstood quite a bit, looking back on her training as a knight. She had treated all of it as a test, instead of a way to learn.

She'd just have to make up for it now. She'd succeed — not in tests just to stay alive, but in her duties as a knight, for the sake of her comrades in arms, the king and the princess, and everyone who had accepted her and given her a place to belong.

...In the end, of course, she was still Erza.

Investigation meant striding purposefully toward the first villager she saw, with a look just short of glare, and demanding, "Where is the girl who saw the dragon?"

The first villager proved unhelpful. So did the second, the third, and fourth through eighth, who were in a group. By that point, the entire street knew what Erza was after, and a small crowd of gawkers had begun to gather. With an increasingly frustrated expression, Erza endured their questions — Was she lost? What was with the armor and sword? Why did she want to talk to that crazy girl? — and their jokes.

"You should go home, little girl," one of the villagers finally suggested. "It's dangerous to go chasing fairy tales by yourself."

"I'm not a little girl," Erza declared coldly. "I'm a knight. I've been ordered to investigate — by the crown."

The looks she received were sceptical at best, but apparently that at least was the norm for the Garou Knights. It wasn't as if Kamika or Cosmos looked particularly knight-like, and Kama was more likely to be taken for a criminal. For just such an occasion, when her identity was in doubt, she had been furnished an identifying seal — an emblem the size of her palm, with the king's crest on one side and the Garou order's on the other.

It took a moment for the villagers to realize what it was, as Erza held it up, and some still looked disbelieving. But they murmured uncertainly among themselves, and someone finally pointed her in the right direction. Nodding sharply, Erza turned on her heel and marched away.

Inwardly, she almost sighed. The back of her neck prickled with the familiar feeling of being watched, and not by the curious, gossiping villagers.

It was supposed to be a simple mission. She could already imagine the Garou Knights mocking her when she came back a week late, after a fight with… Erza couldn't quite tell. She could feel the presence following her, away from the busier streets, toward the edge of town, but she couldn't hear anyone or see them out of the corner of her eye. Still, their magic was strong, certainly not just a civilian.

Erza was considering whether to turn and force a confrontation, as she reached the outskirts of town, almost to her destination. She stopped, the street that had become little more than a dirt path falling silent as the sounds of her footsteps faded away.

However, she wasn't the one to speak.

"Are you really a knight?"

The voice that called out disparagingly to her was male, but young. Erza turned slowly, studying the teenager that now stood behind her, hands tucked into his pockets — a few years older than her, with messy blond hair and a scar across one eye. His casual clothing was a bit dirty and worn, the way Gray had looked when they first met, like he had traveled a long way with nothing to change into, despite trying to at least maintain the basics of hygiene.

"Yes," Erza answered simply, with no particular intonation.

There was a beat as they both waited, Erza for him to explain himself, him for her to add some justification to the obviously implied question — how could a little girl be a knight?

However, Erza made no move to elaborate, leaving them standing in awkward silence.

Finally, the teenager clicked his tongue irritably and said, "So? You got a name, girl?"

"Yes," Erza said, and waited just long enough for his scowl to deepen. "Erza Senketsu, of the Garou Knights."

"Them, huh?" he muttered, his eyes narrowing consideringly. "I'm Laxus. Just Laxus for now. Remember that, so you know who beat you."

'Rude,' Erza thought absently, as a bolt of lightning flashed toward her with no warning. Presumptuous too — she didn't have time to draw her sword, true, but she didn't need it, not against that level of magic. Lashing out with her bare hand, she batted the bolt aside, leaving it plow into the ground and gouge out a deep, smoking furrow beside the path.

"So the Garou Knights do have some standards," Laxus commented. He didn't seem concerned by her easy counter — that hadn't been anywhere near his full power. Lightning sparked around the fist he clenched, ready to continue. "Good. There wouldn't be any point in defeating you if you're weak."

"There's a point in defeating me?" Erza wondered dully. Her lips twitched down in a frown. Being forced to fight... she didn't like it.

"To prove my strength," Laxus said. "I want to see what the best wizards in Fiore can do. And also," he smirked, "I can't have you stealing my prey. You're looking for the dragon, right? So I am. I'll be the one to find it — and defeat it!"

In a flash of light, he vanished and reappeared where Erza had been standing, but she had already dashed out of the way, leaving Laxus to strike at thin air. She hadn't gone far, only twisting around to his side, left open as he overextended on his punch. Her own fist clenched, Erza backhanded him in the ribs.

Only to find flesh suddenly turning to magic beneath the hand. His entire body transforming into electricity, Laxus flashed a few steps away. He winced as he rematerialized.

'She hit me through my Lightning Body?' he thought. 'Even if she looks like a kid, I guess she really is a knight.'

'I couldn't counter it completely. My hand is numb,' Erza considered, her fingers twitching as lingering electricity sparked between them. It was her right hand, too, but of course she could wield with either. 'That's an annoying ability...'

It was still only magic, in the end. It could be overwhelmed and cancelled out, now that she knew to watch out for it. In the first place, she only needed to trick the user anyway. As opponents went, he wasn't on Kama's level yet, or even Kamika and Cosmos's. It was hard to tell how powerful he was, but it was already clear he lacked serious combat experience. All that talk of beating her, but there was no killing intent at all.

"If you want to spar, I don't mind," Erza said, her left hand dropping to the hilt of Heaven's Wheel. "But that second thing... You think I'm going to defeat the dragon?"

Straightening while hiding his wince — she'd hit him like a hammer to the ribs — Laxus sneered. "What else are you going to do? Make friends with it?"

"If a dragon really exists, I'm going to retreat," Erza told him, with a small sigh of exasperation, the correct answer now obvious to her. Even just the ghosts beneath Mercurius were too strong for her to face alone, and they were only a shadow of a living dragon's power, a lingering impression of something much, much greater.

She could beat wyverns and perhaps even a wyrm, now that she had a blade for the task. But a dragon? Erza knew she wouldn't win. However, she didn't need to. Her duty as a knight and her mission wasn't to defeat whatever that girl might have seen, but to find out if it existed. If she found it, the path was clear.

Retreat and report back. Erza nodded to herself in satisfaction.

Laxus snorted, straightening. "That's it? So much for the knights. If you're just a coward, then there's no point in fighting you," he said, already turning away. "The old man went on and on about how dangerous the outside world is, and that's it...?"

"You're going to fight a dragon?" Erza asked, her eyebrows rising in what might have been mild curiosity or perhaps surprise.

"Unlike you, I have guts," Laxus shot back. "I'm going to make a name for myself. The quickest way to do that is a legendary feat. If I beat a dragon, I'll be called a Dragonslayer, like the stories. And if it's not a dragon," he shrugged, acknowledging that the rumor could be just a wild goose chase, "I'll still beat it. It'll be good practice."

Erza canted her head to the side slightly, studying Laxus with enough intent to make him pause. Then, finally, she delivered her verdict — a blunt, crushing one. "That's stupid," she judged.

"Wha—!" Laxus tried to burst out, only to end up choking on the words in indignation. "Y-you! How dare you!"

"There's no way you could beat a dragon," Erza pronounced loudly, over his protests. "It's a legendary beast, and you're just a kid. You'll die trying, if you even manage to find one."

Her flat, unmoved stare made Laxus hiss, rage and tension building as he sank into a low stance. Lightning began to dance around him again. "You know, I think I'm going to fight you after all," he said, baring his teeth in something that couldn't be called a grin. "You, the old man, those idiots at the school, everyone's always looking down on me. I'll show you what I can do!"

He threw his arms wide, sending a storm of bolts across their impromptu battlefield. His aim was to leave Erza no room to dodge and no way to deflect them all the way she had before. But this time, she was faster on the draw. Heaven's Wheel already bare in her left hand, Erza slashed across the sky — cutting not only the lightning but the air itself. The gap lingered, like a hole in the fabric of the world, and left the space between Erza and Laxus clear.

A small ripple of satisfaction passed through her battle calm. What a clean, strong effect — this sword was like nothing she'd wielded before.

Erza crossed it in one dash, her blade aloft for a swift strike. As a weapon that channeled magic to the highest extent possible, it wouldn't cut unless she wanted it to, so she only needed to make sure she didn't hit him hard enough to rupture something internal.

This time, Laxus didn't try to turn to lightning to absorb the blow, knowing she'd just use her magic to overcome his defense. Instead, he ducked, dropping to his knees, and the sword flashed over his head. His fist was already cocked, wreathed in crackling electricity. He drove it toward Erza's exposed side, as she had done for him.

Erza countered with her right hand. Normally, she would have caught his fist in her palm, but her movements were clumsy from the lingering numbness, and she could only deflect his strike slightly. Lightning surged up her arm, deadening it completely and leaving it to drop uselessly. It licked at her side too, but most of the magic slid off the armor Gray had made her, her torso and upper legs well protected.

She would have followed up with a kick, but the threat of being countered with more lightning made her wary. Her legs weren't armored, after all, and losing mobility would be worse than losing an arm.

"You won't get away!" Laxus yelled as she tried to dash back, out of range. Activating Lightning Body again, he chased after her, a bolt of lightning that aimed behind her, to strike at her unguarded back.

'Foolish,' the thought slipped through in the bottom of Erza's mind.

His movements were too easy to predict. As soon as she feigned the dash back, she cancelled her momentum and spun around, sword flashing toward the place she knew he would reappear.

In the brief moment as he begun to rematerialize but before he became completely solid, Laxus noticed the attack, his eyes widening. His body twisted aside as he forced himself to become lightning again — and succeeded, the yellow bolt darting around Erza's sword, only slightly disturbed by the magic trailing around the blade.

But Erza too avoided his attempt to strike her, and the two pivoted toward their next move.

Strike, dodge, miss, counter, dodge — the battle became a running game of tag without either being struck. Their figures flashed across the empty village outskirts, kicking up scattered clouds of dust and ruffling the weeds with their passing.

"Stay still!" Laxus yelled, his voice echoing between two positions.

Erza didn't bother to respond, but her eyes narrowed in equal frustration. Neither of them was able to gain the upper hand, and it was becoming a battle of endurance — or chance, waiting for the moment one of them slipped up.

It would be close. Laxus was stronger than she'd realized at first, and their magic power was potentially closely matched. There was no telling if perhaps his was even greater. It was a strange, new realization for Erza, that she could fall short in such a way.

But that aside, the longer that the battle stretched, the more it became a matter of chance. If, for example, she slipped again, as she had down in the cave...

'I'll lose,' Erza acknowledged. And then—

—And then what?

She'd noted from the start that Laxus had no killing intent. His magic was powerful, but he wouldn't do more than knock her out, if that. Her life wasn't in danger, and she could continue her investigation once he left.

So why was she fighting?

The reason was...

...She didn't want to lose.

Was it pride in her skills? Was it a desire to uphold the honor of the knights she represented?

Erza didn't think so. She had never really held something like pride, and she didn't see any point in defending it against someone she had only just meant, whose opinion didn't matter to her.

Then, what was the reason? Was it because...

If she lost, he'd go on his way. Maybe he'd find a dragon, maybe he'd fight his way through other monsters, but eventually he'd find himself faced with an opponent that he couldn't defeat. It wouldn't even take that long. Many monsters were resilient against magic, and some would only grow stronger from electricity.

If she lost here, Laxus would just charge ahead, not realizing what he was risking, seeing only his goal, not the danger. Erza could tell, he didn't really understand. He had never been face to face with death. He didn't feel that crushing weight, didn't know down to his bones what the cost of failure would be.

As a knight, she had a duty. Not just to her mission, but to their purpose, to protect the people and uphold justice. Rather than pride in her strength, if she let herself be defeated here, what she would lose was her pride in upholding that duty.

Even so, she could back down. She could afford to lose. Most likely likely, she would be the only one to know.

But this time, it was her choice. The familiar thought—

'I will win,' Erza decided.

Yes, she would win and stop him here.

Lightning flashed past her as she twisted out of the way, her sword relentlessly turning toward the place where Laxus would go next. But as every time before, he slipped back into Lightning Body, avoiding the blow.

That spell was troublesome. It gave him a range of movement that was too broad, letting him escape from any single swing, not only sideways but also up and down...

So she needed to close off every direction. A sword slash would always only be a line — as long as it was a single one, that is.

Imagine was forming in her mind. Erza knew what she needed to do. Pivoting to avoid the next flash of lightning, she planted her feet.

This time, she didn't follow up with another strike, instead swinging her arm wider to prepare her next move. The small breather was time enough for Laxus to rematerialize completely. He appeared in front of her, both arms raised up, fists locked toward and about to come down in a devastating hammer blow.

He really didn't have enough experience with combat, not thinking to be cautious when an opponent suddenly changed tempo. Even if he realized it might not be an opening, he was counting on his Lightning Body to let him escape again...

Frustration flashed across his face as he nearly ran into Erza's fast upward diagonal, before he vanished into lightning once more. But even as the bolt he'd become shot away, Erza swung a sharp horizontal and a mirroring downward diagonal. Her movements were almost too fast to follow, only the trail of light her blade left showing where she had cut.

'That's... A spell?' Laxus realized.

Too late. Two more lines completed the shape — a five point star that became a net, or a cage. He had dodged wrong, avoiding the first swings only to end up trapped in the center. As the star shone, the magic complete and closed, his Lightning Body destabilized and was torn away.

The five slashes crashed against his physical body, throwing him back and into the ground. Laxus groaned, struggling to at least lift his head, but his limbs wouldn't respond right, twitching from the shock of the spell.

Slowly lowering her blade, Erza studied his prone form. "Not bad," she judged. "Spells should have names... so I'll call it Pentagram Sword."

"So this is the power of a knight..." Laxus gritted out, forcing himself up on his elbows. True to Erza's intent, he wasn't bleeding or cut. Even his shirt was still in one piece. But the damage went deep. It felt like she'd cut the flow of magic in his magic, impossible though that should have been.

Erza still regarded him with a blank, unreadable look. Then, her posture shifted, something changing — a tilt of the chin, a loosening in her stance, some aspect of her entire demeanor. Her eyes were cold, and there was no emotion anywhere in her face. Laxus found himself pinned.

As she prowled toward him, he felt cold sweat break out across his back. Every muscle clenched, while his mind went blank. There was a crushing pressure holding him place. He didn't recognize it, not consciously, but some small, instinctive corner of his mind knew — this was what a human's killing intent felt like.

"You said you wanted to make a name for yourself," Erza said tonelessly as she approached. One foot, then the other, planted on either side of his torso, and she looked down at him with the same empty expression. "I was given my name, you know. Senketsu — it's a Yakuma word. It means 'fresh blood.' They called me that because, no matter who my opponent was, I would paint their blood across the arena."

She lifted her sword, the sharp, gleaming point aimed at downward.

Laxus choked, his throat closing, his lungs paralyzed. But at least, at least he wouldn't look away.

The blade came down—

A thin line of red opened across his cheek. The tip of Heaven's Wheel crunched against the earth next to his head. Erza had missed. No, she'd never intended to deal a killing blow.

Finally managing to draw a gasping breath, Laxus shuddered as his body slumped in relief. "Th... that was..."

"Facing death," Erza said succinctly. With a small flourish, she lifted and sheathed her sword, then looked at him with a quiet huff. "Do you get it now? That's what you're risking when you go chasing monsters. Is becoming famous worth the gamble?"

Her lips pursed, brow furrowing in annoyance, as he didn't respond.

"Well, is it?" she prompted, raising her voice.

"...You don't understand," Laxus muttered, turning his head away. "My family... My grandfather was a Saint of the Runic Order. My great-grandfather was one of Fairy Tail's founders, and they still tell stories about him. But even though they're that famous, even though that's my legacy, I can't even use their family name! All because—"

He gritted his teeth, stubbornly looking away.

Because of the tradition on Tenrou. All the other students were orphans, not even remembering their parents, or disowned, even driven out of their homes. None of them had a name to use, so even the adults had followed suit.

All of them, the headmaster had declared, were each other's family now — and, implied, they didn't need another.

Everyone else received something at Tenrou, training, a refuse, a new family, but for him it felt like something had been taken away. Maybe Laxus had never been explicitly forbidden from using his grandfather's name, but he had always known that everyone would frown and resent him if he did so. Even though Tenrou and magic had been his family's heritage for nearly a century, he could never claim it.

And at the same time, he could never be just one of the students. No one ever forgot that he was the headmaster's grandson, always glancing at him when they brought up yet another story of Makarov's or Yuri's exploits, always commenting how it was "as expected" whenever he achieved anything...

So a crazy idea had settled in his head, becoming louder and louder with every year — he needed to do something even greater than his grandfather. Something that would outweigh that legacy, make everyone forget whom he was related to.

"If I beat a dragon, I won't need their name anyway," Laxus muttered, his voice dropping and his eyes sliding shut in exhaustion. "That's what I thought..."

Dragonslayer — a title revered even in legends. Compared to that, Saint, adventurer... none of it would matter.

Erza sighed. "And that's more important than your life?" she said, finally stepping back and dropping to sit on the grass next to him. "The way you are, if you rush off to fight, you'll die."

The only answer was a frustrated silence.

"I don't know anything about your family," Erza said bluntly. "Even if you told me your family name, I wouldn't know. If you've only ever met people who recognized it, you've lived in a very small world."

Pushing himself up painstakingly, with a clear wince, Laxus sat up beside her, both of them staring into the distance, at the blurred shape of the houses on the outskirts. "...I don't really remember back before Gramps took me to Tenrou," he admitted reluctantly. "I only heard about the mainland from the adults."

Erza nodded. "But now that you're out in the world, things are different. It's hard to understand just how different at first. I didn't understand either, for a long time... That's why it's no good to rush ahead based on what you thought back when you were living in that small world. First, you should go further and see more, before you decide what is worth risking your life for."

"Or I'll die for real, huh?" Laxus muttered. He swallowed heavily, remembering the crushing pressure of her killing intent. He had to clench his fists to keep his hands from trembling.

He'd thought he was ready for any battle, but...

"Yes," Erza said simply.

Silence fell between them, until she finally pushed herself to her feet and headed back toward the path.

She'd won, and she'd said her piece. Now, all she could do was continue on her mission. Laxus remained sitting on the field beside the dirt road for a long time.

~.~.~

"I see," Erza said, giving away no hint of her feelings, or perhaps she didn't feel anything in particular at all about the story she had heard.

The girl sitting across from her was about the same age as Erza, but her simple dress and the way she hunched in on herself uncertainly made her seem younger. Sneaking a glance at Erza from behind her dark bangs, she quickly ducked her head again.

Her name was Daphne, and she was the witness Erza had come to Kuchinashi to see.

"Do you... believe me?" she asked.

"I don't know yet," Erza replied honestly. "It doesn't really matter. My mission is to investigate, that's all. If I find it, I'll report back. If I don't find it, I'll report that too."

"I really did see it! I'm not lying!" Daphne burst out.

"Okay," Erza confirmed. "Which direction did it go?"

"...Northeast, deeper into the mountains," Daphne said, eyeing Erza uncertainly, as if trying to figure her out. "I wanted to go look for it, but it's getting late in the year, and the passes higher up are dangerous now..."

Erza nodded slowly. Kuchinashi was already in the foothills, and the mountain range grew steeper and wilder to the north and east. There could very well be a mythical beast hiding there, beyond the reach of human civilization.

The snow never melted at some of the summits, and they were already well into autumn. Conditions would certainly be rough. She hated to admit it, but the wilderness survival portions of the knight training had been some of her weakest. Hunting, she could manage, but everything else... If the locals thought it was too dangerous to climb now, Erza would be a fool to try it. She'd have to consult the map to see if there were any more settlements in that directions, check if there were any other witnesses, or maybe local legends about large flying beasts...

"Could you tell where it headed more precisely? Which mountain?" Erza asked, shaking away her thoughts for now.

"Are you really going to go after it?" Daphne asked in return.

"Which mountain was it headed toward?" Erza repeated.

For a moment, the two of them stared at each other. Daphne cracked first. "Mount Zonia," she said. "It was headed toward the tallest mountain."

Erza stood. Pausing as she turned to go, she glanced back and said, "Not now," — the answer to Daphne's question, whether she would go after it. With the mountain passes beginning to get snowed in, it seemed like the rest of the mission would have to be put on hold.

'...Frustrating,' Erza thought. Maybe it really was pride, but she didn't like to lose, even when she could afford to.

~.~.~

Letting out a slow breath as the light of magic faded around her, Hisui climbed to her feet and curtsied. "Thank you for the lesson," she said, as she had every time she and Makarov finished for the day.

He'd told her it wasn't necessary, but she was a polite, well-taught girl. "It's fine, it's fine," Makarov still waved to her. "You're getting the hang of it now. Keep practicing, and I'll see you next week."

Hisui beamed, ducking her head in a shallow bow as Makarov let himself out of the small, private library they had been using for their lessons. He could have just ended the Thought Projection, but he had been raised old fashioned — to properly excuse himself, not vanish in and out like those flashy youngsters. There was no harm in acting with basic politeness.

Unfortunately, it also left him open for a few moments to be waylaid by other, less welcome individuals.

Makarov bit back a sigh as he closed the library door and glanced over his shoulder at the figure waiting there. Seeing the expression on Darton's face as the defense minister stood in the shadows, he knew this wouldn't be a conversation he'd enjoy. "To what do I owe the pleasure?" he asked dryly.

Darton's habitual frown twitched, reading some — perhaps present — mocking there, but his response was even, if gruff. "There's something I want to ask you," he said.

He sounded a bit like he was choking on something just forcing the words out, and Makarov felt a very inappropriate urge to needle him further. But he wasn't a child, and he was well aware of how little Darton liked or approved of him, so anything that could drive him to approach Makarov could only be important to the entire kingdom.

When Makarov nodded, his expression serious, Darton approached, reaching into the folds of his coat. "Do you know anything about this symbol?" he asked, showing Makarov a scrap of tattered cloth.

Stitched into it was a mark vaguely in the shape of a V with a horizontal slash through it. It was the symbol Kama and the Garou Knights had brought back from the phantom tower. Since then, Darton had been trying to pin down why it was so familiar. Copies had been drawn up and passed to his most discrete contacts, but no one had been able to turn up anything.

Asking Makarov was unideal, but as a former Saint and an adventurer before that, he had seen much of the dark side of magic. And despite Darton's many justified complaints against Fairy Tail, their core morals had never been in doubt.

Even before Makarov responded, Darton could tell from the look on his face that he did recognize it — and that it was a far graver matter than he had hoped.

"...I do," Makarov said slowly. "You know of it too, even if you haven't seen their emblem before. This is the crest of Avatar."

Darton drew a short, sharp breath, shock momentarily leaving him speechless. "Them? Are you sure?" he said finally.

"Yes, there's no doubt," Makarov said. "So they've reappeared again... You probably don't realize just how broad their reach is and how numerous their followers are. Every time we thought we'd finally hunted down the last of them, another group would be found, usually behind some horrible incident..."

The dark magic cult Avatar. Yes, it was coming back to Darton. "They were behind that incident with the woodworker girl," he recalled slowly. "I saw the emblem before too, in the oldest files about the unexplained destruction of villages and missing caravans. But what are they after?"

"They're after the same thing as back then with Laki. They were trying to have her create a new body for Lullaby, and that's what Avatar always aims for, ultimately," Makarov said, "the incarnation of Zeref's demons."

"That's—!" Darton choked, his expression horrified. "That's insanity!"

Makarov nodded slowly. "Yes, they're quite insane," he agreed. "But that's what they've been after, in some way, every time they've appeared, back when I was in Fairy Tail and when I was in the Runic Order. They don't have a single base of operations or even a proper leadership. They're split into cells, and every cell pursues their own method — most often requiring mass murder to amass the raw power necessary to attempt it."

His tone was heavy with old disgust, and his hands clenched together tightly behind his back. There was silence between the two men, as Darton let out a heavy sigh and reached up to rub at his brow.

This was worse than he'd imagined. It was still possible, of course, that everyone involved had died at the tower, but it was equally possible that some of the cultists had escaped and that whatever their experiments had created was still out there.

Their experiments to awaken one of Zeref's demons... The level of destruction on that island...

Was it possible... that they had succeeded?

"Where did you get this?" Makarov asked. "I've kept an ear out, and I haven't heard about any incident that might be connected to them, not in this part of the continent."

Darton hesitated for a moment, but there was no point in holding back from telling him now. If Makarov wanted to, he would find out through his own sources in the Runic Order. And Makarov had honestly answered Darton's questions, so doing the same was only fair return.

"There was a tower," he explained reluctantly. "Have you heard of the legends of the phantom tower in the south sea? A year ago, it was destroyed. The barriers finally fell recently..."

Makarov was silent, his expression pensive — and oddly regretful. "Is that so..." he murmured slowly. "Did you find anyone there...? No, of course not. If you had, you wouldn't need to ask me." He ran a hand over his eyes, suddenly exhausted.

"Do you know something about it?" Darton asked, his jaw flexing an effort to keep himself from sounding accusing.

"No, not the way you think," Makarov said. "One of my old team, Rob... He went looking for it. He had a theory, that it was tied to some of the slave traders. Something about their routes and dealing with someone who wasn't in their record books... This was all years ago, before I even founded the academy. He went on another round of investigation and just... disappeared. I regret not keeping in touch more, now."

"...There was no one alive there," Darton said. "But they could have left before our people got there."

Makarov shook his head, but he didn't say anything, either in thanks for the rare show of kindness or to point out the obvious unlikeliness of it. If Rob had been alive, he would have contacted someone long before.

"If that's all you wanted to ask, I'm going to take my leave," he said finally.

Forgoing manners, Makarov let his Thought Projection dissipate without waiting for a response.

~.~.~

 **Appendix: Organizations**

 _Runic Order_ \- The AU counterpart of the Magic Council and the Rune Knights. They are an international organization that monitors and controls the flow of magic across the continent Ishgar. However, their influence is weaker to the far north and east. The original order was monastic, being followers of the divine, but over time they became more secular and focused on hermetic studies and the accumulation of magical knowledge. Combining the two, they are a stabilizing force that deals with dangerous magic phenomena and wizards who cannot be controlled within the boundaries of normal law. Era, the Runic Order's headquarters, is an independent city-state. Due to their power, they are respected but also distrusted by national governments. In recent generations, Era has become the goal of every young wizard as a place where mysteries of magic await, leading to a drain on the wizard populations in other nations.

 _Katou Knights_ \- One of the formerly four, now two, knight orders in Fiore. They are by far the most numerous and so ubiquitous that they are referred to as simply "the knights." Their duties include patrolling the main highways, conducting kingdom-wide operations, resolving complaints brought directly to the king, hunting monsters, maintaining a presence in each region as representatives of the crown, and others. The squads are each named after a flower and headed by a captain. The Cherry Blossom squad is charged with directly protecting the royal family and led by the overall commander of the knights, to whom captains report. Katou means Flower Light or Lamp. In canon, it's the moniker of Mercurius.

 _Garou Knights_ \- The other remaining knight order. They are traditionally magic users and thus charged with handling magic-related issues. Because of their small numbers, each member automatically gains a rank equivalent to a captain in the Katou Knights. In the past, the members have been recruited from the ranks of wandering wizards and even criminals. Combined with their often secretive missions and the rough temperaments of the members, they have a shady reputation as a whole. Garou means Hungry Wolf.

 _Fairy Tail_ \- A band of self-styled adventurers, technically freelance mercenaries who accepted odd jobs, which operated in Fiore and the surrounding areas. Founded in X686. It disbanded in X736, by agreement of all core members to pursue other paths. However, they are still well-remembered in Fiore, mostly as a rowdy bunch who did whatever they pleased but carried a spirit of adventure with them. The band's base of operations was on Tenrou Island, the home of the first leader.

 _Tenrou academy of magic_ \- A school for magically-inclined children, founded by Makarov on Tenrou in X772. The goal was to create a place that children newly awakened to their magic could go to learn and, more broadly, a home for those who had been cast out by their families. Since most of the students are orphans or disowned, at best, it is an unspoken tradition to discard family names. The first "class" graduated in X777, though it consisted of only a handful of students. The island is protected by a natural barrier that makes it difficult to find, but there is nothing to prevent residents from leaving.

 _Avatar_ \- A dark magic cult. Their aim is to summon and incarnate the demons from the Books of Zeref. To this end, they use various methods, most involving experimentation on humans and mass human sacrifice. Their origins are unknown, as is their exact number of followers and area of influence.

~.~.~


	6. Ice and Darkness

**Notes:** And now for something different! ...Kinda. Anyway, this is the last chapter to really explore Gray's backstory. It might come up later, but it won't be explained in detail again. So if you have any questions, please ask!

~.~.~

 **VI. Ice and Darkness**

When he opened his eyes, once again in his real body on Tenrou Island, Makarov didn't move for a long time, thinking of the past, of old battles and old friends, and of things he wished had gone differently.

But there was no point in thoughts like that, and he finally cracked his neck and gestured to the crystal ball sitting on a padded cushion on his desk. It rolled off the pillow and bounced down onto the floor, coming to rest in front of Makarov where he still sat in a meditation pose. He waved his hand over it, making it shine for a long moment before dimming.

A shadowy blur twisted in the center of the orb, along with a distant echo of indistinct voices and footsteps. After a few moments, the image within lightened and resolved into the face of a young man with three scars running down his temple.

"Are you alright to talk, Doranbolt?" Makarov asked quietly.

"Yeah, I've ducked out for a bit," the young man, Doranbolt, said. "It's rare for you to call like this. What do you need?" More dryly, he added, "Another kid with some weird power? More reports that need to vanish mysteriously?"

Makarov humphed. "What a greeting. You brats really have no manners, do you?" he grouched theatrically. "Why, I remember when it was your records disappearing mysteriously, Mest—"

"Yes, yes, I'm very grateful, Master Makarov," Doranbolt cut him off quickly. "Just don't use that name. I'll be lucky to ever see outside of a jail cell again if anyone makes the connection."

They were deeply unlikely to, of course. In the days of his… misspent youth, he had been rather free in the use of his memory altering magic — which had been the entire issue, in the end. Once he was marked as a problem by the Runic Order, it was only a matter of time before someone strong enough to resist his spells was sent after him, and the fact that none of his previous victims could remember his face wouldn't have saved him for long.

Enter Makarov, who had listened to then-Mest's sob story and agreed to help get him a second chance and a new identity. Some days, now-Doranbolt felt like he'd made a deal with the devil, given the amount of favors and not entirely legal errands he'd been "asked" to perform since then.

"You can relax, I don't need anything this time," Makarov said, apparently having had his fill of teasing for now. "Rather, there's something I think you and your squad should know. Were you assigned to the phantom tower incident?"

Doranbolt's eyebrow twitched a little. "So you heard about that?" he said without much surprise, even if the matter was supposed to be kept confidential by the Runic Order. "No, I wasn't assigned originally, but I know the details. Well, what there is to know. We didn't find much."

"Then you're looking into it," Makarov guessed. "I'm not sure how much use this will be to you, but it might be a lead. My old friend Rob had been following a theory about the connection between the phantom tower and the slave traders, particularly those dealing in children."

"Children..." Doranbolt repeated, his expression darkening — he remembered the reports, carefully neutral but painting a vivid image of the small bodies in the rubble of the tower.

As a workforce, children were far from ideal, even if they were easier to control and brainwash. But given the singular interest of Avatar, the purpose of using them was likely much more sinister. Children were malleable, especially in their magic. Placed under great strain, they could develop at an astounding rate — or break down completely.

Develop to what purpose... there was no telling. It certainly hadn't ended well for that branch of the cult, small comfort though that was.

Makarov nodded, equally grim. "He requested quite a few records from the order, I'm sure you can find out which ones. He disappeared shortly afterward, so I believe he must have found something that made him a target. I heard the tower is gone now, but you might be able to follow the trail to another cell, or to some of their contacts."

"I'll see to it someone follows up on that," Doranbolt said. His image in the crystal ball shook as he sighed and ran a hand over his face. "We have to make sure we hunt down every one of them, or they'll just keep coming back." He hesitated, swallowing heavily, and admitted in a low voice, "I think they're getting closer."

"You think they managed to fully incarnate a demon and it destroyed the tower?" Makarov asked, his hands clenching in his lap.

"I don't know. That place was so full of malice and half-collapsed spells that there's no way to tell what kind of magic destroyed it," Doranbolt said. "But there's another open case... We've been hearing rumors from out in the east, at the very edge of the Continental Ridge."

"On the other side of Pergrande?" Makarov said, frowning.

Doranbolt nodded. "That's why it's taken so long to hear anything, or to send anyone out there. There isn't even real governments out there, just local councils and the nomadic tribes. But we've been hearing about... entire villages being destroyed. There've been barely any survivors, so no one knows what's causing it. But what we heard... a horned giant that appears and disappears without any warning — and breathes destruction."

"...A demon," Makarov surmised.

"It's inconclusive, but Jura was sent out to investigate," Doranbolt said. "Well, he volunteered... He had some personal reasons for wanting to head to Land of Isvan."

"Gods be with him," Makarov murmured tiredly. "Let me know if you find out anything."

"Will do," Doranbolt said.

His image faded into darkness, as he closed his hand around the small communication lacrima he had been using, and finally cleared away completely. Makarov stared down at his own orb for a long time, before forcing himself to rise, joints creaking.

To him, magic had always been part of life — a blessing that was his family's legacy, that brought him many dear comrades, that tied him to his cute little students. But that blessing had an opposite side as well, a darkness that had to be fought over and over again without end.

When he was young, the battle had seemed glorious and full of purpose, if dangerous and painful. Now, when he could only leave others to fight, Makarov felt tired.

The battle that would never end — darkness that would exist eternally, as long as there was light.

But that battle was no longer his.

~.~.~

The continent of Ishgar was roughly divided into three parts. The western kingdoms, where the Runic Order was strongest. The far east, where the Yakuma had originated from. And between them, the northern frontier and the Continental Ridge.

North and east of Pergrande Kingdom, the land became broken up by mountains, another, taller range rising past every valley. The temperature dropped, the slopes became increasingly inhospitable. There were no nations or kingdoms on Pergrande's eastern border, only broad regions dotted with scattered settlements that gradually petered out as they drew closer to the final divide between east and west, the massive range called the Continental Ridge.

There were legends, of heroes and fools crossing the Ridge. Rarely on foot — even in a legend, no one could believe such a folly. On the back of a beast or carried by a god, the stories were more in that vein. That had been how the Yakuma, who had conquered both east and west, had crossed over — protected by their war gods.

No one knew exactly how wide the Continental Ridge was, or what, if anything, lay within it. The maps grew blank out past Pergrande's ambiguous, wavering eastern side, showing only the floating names of frontier regions.

The Land of Isvan was one such region, bordering the south sea that was passable maybe three months of the year — in a warm year — but still largely characterized by mountains and snow. Traveling there had been a quest in itself, even for one of the Runic Order's great Saints.

It had been the first place to suffer from the rumored attacks.

Rumored... was not the correct term. When he looked across the snow covered ruins of what had been a small town just three years prior, Jura had known the attack had been very much a grim reality.

The disasters had continued for three years after, all across the frontier, until the demon was supposedly vanquished in the far northern city of Brago. That aspect of the story Jura had yet to confirm as the journey was quickly becoming impossible in the late autumn.

Instead, he had followed another lead — tracing the steps of the one who was said to have finally defeated that demon. The crafter, Ur Krone.

Far from the Runic Order's reach, from his own contacts, and everything he was familiar with, Jura knew his investigations would never be thorough. He couldn't begin to judge what was suspicious, what was out of the ordinary, what hinted at something hidden going on, or even where the flow of magic had been interrupted.

Asking about Ur and her movements was much simpler, and simply following her trail led him deep into the mountains, to a narrow, overgrown path that ended in front of massive stone doors that were barely noticeable until you stood directly before them. The carvings had worn away with time and weather, but Jura realized immediately what kind of place this was.

Once, it had belonged to the dwarves. There was no mistaking their craftsmanship. But the complex, burrowing for miles under the stone, had been long abandoned by the dwarf tribes when they withdrew to their greatest cities.

Instead, the tunnels had been claimed for another purpose — a hidden place of secret research.

And, judging by the emblem painted over and over again across the stone walls, the Runic Order's suspicions had been correct.

"There's no doubt this place was used by Avatar," Jura said, running his hand gingerly along one painted emblem. It was cold and inert under his touch, but he pulled back quickly, rubbing his fingers together as if something might have stuck to him. "Most likely, they were the ones responsible for summoning the demon. But it seems to have been abandoned years ago. It was probably already empty when Master Ur was here."

Out of the corner of his eye, he watched the reaction of his companion — or rather, the girl who had been temporarily made the Saints' ward due to her outstanding magical potential. There was little doubt that she would one day be strong enough to become a Saint herself, and unfortunately, she had nowhere else to go.

Now, more than ever.

Jura had volunteered for this mission precisely with the intent of bringing her along. He had called it letting her observe the work of a Saint, but his goal had been to create a reason for her to return to her homeland — and to see her mother again, even if she herself had refused it otherwise.

However, that reunion had turned out to be impossible. Ur was rumored to have defeated a demon, but she had done so at the cost of her life, and she would never be able to meet her daughter again.

There was no response from Ultear, and after a moment, Jura looked away again with a barely stifled sigh. "It's possible that the demon they summoned raged out of control and they fled — or died," he went on instead. "But given the descriptions of its size, there would be an obvious trail… We need to look around more, to see if we can find out anything about what happened and what, precisely, they were doing."

"...Understood," Ultear said quietly, giving a shallow nod.

"Be careful," Jura instructed. "There might be traps, or even just something dangerous that was left behind. Can you tell? This place has a strong malevolence lingering here. All the suffering they caused with their obsession has been seeping back over time."

Ultear's eyes narrowed before turning to sweep across the empty, abandoned hallway, trying to determine what he was referring to. It didn't take her long to begin to understand, even if there was no visible sign — not yet. "The cold here... it's very deep," she commented, ambiguously.

Jura nodded. The chill went deeper than bone, down to the soul. It was probably how all the victims had felt as they breathed their last and after, as their bodies lay abandoned in the ruins of their homes.

"We should keep moving," he said. "And... stay close."

This particular complex of tunnels had probably been an outpost for the ancient dwarven empire, something like a border castle. There were likely several more exits to the surface in other parts of it, along with one larger and more accessible gate. However, the main gate had likely been collapsed by the dwarves when they left this place, to conceal and close it off.

"Why would it matter if they hid it?" Ultear asked, after Jura explained this to her. "If they were planning to come back, they would have to clean up. And if they never intended to return..."

"It'll make sense if you consider it a little more," Jura said, though without reprimand. "Dwarves are sturdy, but they didn't come or leave by any surface road. In fact, no one is sure what's become of them because they so rarely come to the surface at all."

"...There's a road beneath the ground," Ultear realized. "Like the highways. Roads deep underground that link their cities and bases. And they didn't want anyone stumbling on that deep road."

"That's right. We'll go check there first. I want to see if Avatar used it at all," Jura said.

The entrance to the underground road was in the deepest part of the complex, though it wasn't hard to reach, guided by his sense of the earth and stone. The elevators and other structures in the wide shaft leading down to it had long since decayed and collapsed, but the auxiliary staircase, circling the wall, was still accessible.

However, there was no need for them to descend all the way down. Not even halfway, the walls of the shaft appeared to have ruptured open and flooded the shaft with rubble large and small, leaving it completely impassible. The entrance to the road couldn't even be seen.

"Hmm... They closed it off," Jura noted.

"They did that themselves?" Ultear asked in surprise.

"That's not a natural collapse," he said, still stroking his chin thoughtfully. "And the dwarves didn't do it, or they would have just collapsed this entire outpost. I suppose they might have been wary of what's down in the roads. The legends describe all kinds of monsters... But given the mindset of Avatar, that's hard to believe. Maybe they were trying to change the flow of magic..?"

'The flow of magic...' Ultear thought. True, the magic here felt different. Stoppered and stale, heavy but not cold and oppressive the way it had in the upper levels. 'There's less malevolence here,' she noted.

She pursed her lips, looking between Jura and the blocked shaft. "Shall I restore it?" she offered.

"There's no need," Jura said, turning away. "Avatar didn't go that way. Or they would have restored some of the elevators. It seems like they left behind quite a bit of equipment as well. So it's of no concern to us. Let's keep looking."

There were many other areas that had clearly not been restored, or used by Avatar at all. Jura mentally mapped them and focused their search on the small cluster of rooms and passages that had been occupied by the dark cult.

Whatever had forced Avatar to depart, they had done so while leaving quite a bit behind. Barrels of preserved foods, thin bed rolls and other bedding, many of the items of daily life that even the cultists had required were still stacked in the corners of empty stone chambers. Even more puzzling, their... research had also been left behind, at least in part.

Dark grimoires still lay on work tables and shelves. Sheets of magic circles and runes, some damp, some chalky, ineligible with decay, were scattered across every surface. Packages of rare catalysts had been left half opened.

"Were they attacked by someone and driven out?" Ultear guessed, her voice low.

"There's no blood, or signs of a battle," Jura said, just as quietly. Their voices didn't echo, the air too still for that. "And if they had died here... there would have been wraiths left, I think."

"Then... do you think they might have sacrificed themselves to that demon?" Ultear said. "I read about those kinds of rituals..."

Jura paused, considering her idea. "No," he finally judged. "I don't think that's likely. How much did you have a chance to learn about demons? The demons from the Books of Zeref are not physical things, not in themselves. They are... spells, which must use a physical vessel to manifest. However, any vessel they are summoned into is quickly destroyed from the inside by their presence. The stronger the demon, the faster the vessel's destruction. For most of the demons, they will manifest for minutes, if that."

Those minutes could turn the tide of a war, or bring down a nation, if used the right way. That is what demon pacts had always been — using every drop of magic at their disposal, some lost soul summoned a demon in a form of pure ether, for the short gap in time that they could support it. A last ditch, desperate gamble.

Whether they were considered martyrs or demons themselves depended on which side triumphed in the end.

"Avatar's goal, as best we can tell, has been to find or create more resilient vessels for Zeref's demons," Jura returned to his explanation. "To allow them to fully manifest, as it were. It's true that they often try to gain the power necessary for their rituals through human sacrifice... But there's one point that doesn't add up, if they all killed themselves to create the vessel they were researching."

"...How did the demon get from here to the town it attacked?" Ultear said. "No one saw it approaching. Unless they conducted the ritual there?"

"They may have," Jura said. "I would say it's likely, even. They finished the research to create the vessel and carried out the ritual elsewhere. Given their history, they most likely intended the demon to feed on the village to maintain itself. But that's not the issue. Remember, this demon attacked in many places, all across the north. It didn't travel between those places, and given the gap between the attacks, I doubt Avatar succeeded enough to allow it to exist for years..."

"They performed the ritual many times," Ultear surmised. "In different locations."

"Most likely. Each time, the vessel they created lasted only a few hours, if the rumors are accurate... long enough to destroy a town, and then the demon returned to its inert state as a sealed book," Jura said, his lips thinning in well controlled anger. "This is just my supposition, but they most likely used the leylines and the magic of the land to gather enough power for their rituals. So they repositioned in search of more viable locations... They might have even learned it from some records the dwarves left here."

This was why Avatar had to be eliminated, utterly and without mercy. He was the youngest current Saint, but Jura had already seen too many of disasters caused by the lunatics of the dark cult. Some incidents were small, simply allowing Zeref's Books to fall into desperate hands and observing the swift, brutal results, but some were like this — trails of destruction that went on and on until someone laid down their lives to put an end to it.

'If it hasn't reappeared in a year, that means Master Ur either destroyed the demon fully, not just forced its vessel past its limit, or she was able to take out all the cultists who summoned it,' Jura calculated. 'Given Avatar's... capacity for escaping, the latter seems unlikely. And if they're still out there, they might be able to acquire another book...'

They needed to be stopped, no matter what. That was the mission the entire Runic Order had dedicated themselves to. No matter what, Zeref's dark legacy and those who followed it would be stopped.

"In any case, they most likely had to leave their tomes and extra catalysts here to avoid being weighed down during travel," Jura said. "The same will hold true for us. We can't take all this back to Era to be studied properly, so let's try to gather the most relevant parts. I'll leave copying down the circles to you, while I look through the tomes and notes... the legible ones."

~.~.~

There was one chamber in particular where the magic and the malice gathered. The air was so frigid it stung in their lungs with every breath. Circular, with a ceiling so high it disappeared into shadows, there was no way to judge what original purpose it had served for the dwarves, but for Avatar, it must have been the main research room. Rough, mismatched worktables lined the walls, stacked with grimoires, scribbled sheets littered in between them, along with crates similarly covered. Ritual circles were carved into the stone floor and walls, converging around a spot where the stone had become cracked and blackened with the aftereffects of something.

Looking down at the discolored, damaged area, Jura frowned. "They kept something in here," he noted. "Judging by these circles... containment, but also magic extraction? The book, to keep it suppressed but to experiment on it at the same time, perhaps?"

Making his way back to the cluttered worktables, he picked up a few sheets of notes. Unlike the papers in the other rooms, which had begun to fade or blur or even blacken with mold, these were still in good condition. It must have been the magic in the air...

Jura paused, flipping through the sheets again. Pulling out one page in particular, he held it side by side with the others.

The paper type and quality, the ink, the handwriting and the contents, all were completely different.

His eyes narrowed as he tried to decipher the rushed scribbles on the mismatched sheet. They were magic designs too, but of a completely different discipline and purpose than Avatar's rituals. Where Avatar appeared to be studying various kinds of golem creation wrought large and earthwork magic, this was alchemy and…

'Spells to craft onto a weapon?' Jura thought. 'Could this be from Master Ur? Did she use this place to create the weapon she used against the demon? ...No, that would be too foolhardy for a master.'

Avatar's workshop was steeped in darkness. There was a certain power that could come from creating the weapon that would destroy them in the very lair of their evil, but it was a dangerous sort of power that would not be without backlash. Not to mention that handwriting...

"There was someone else here," he judged. "Someone aside from Master Ur."

Ultear pursed her lips, but her tone was unreadable when she responded. "Shall we confirm?" she offered.

The crystal ball she used as a focus rolled down her arm and onto her palm, magic gathering inside it before shining out across the cavernous chamber. Shadows danced across the walls, creating a visual echo of their surroundings.

For several long moments, that seemed to be all that happened, but slowly something changed. The overlaid copy of the chamber diverged from reality — small signs of neglect vanishing, a fallen banner rising up on the wall again, a thin crack sealing itself up again. A sudden, blinding flash made both of them reflexively shut their eyes, and when they looked again, the changes were obvious — additional magic circles had appeared overlaid with the ones Avatar had carved across the floor and walls, catalysts dotting them, and small silver markers were now lined around the still empty damaged spot.

Ghostly afterimages of an indistinct figure crossed the room, moving to and fro between the worktables and a couple of old crates, now covered in an assortment of materials and more scribbled notes. Several of the grimoires lay open, the open page constantly flickering to something else.

"This should be far enough," Ultear judged. "Let's observe this lost memory."

The afterimages began to stabilize — a vision of the past created through her time magic. The indistinct figure that had been crisscrossing the chamber finally solidified, the lines no longer blurred, though it remained faintly translucent.

As Jura had thought, it was much too short to be the famous Ur. Instead, the one who had once stood at the battered worktables, leafing frenetically through the abandoned grimoires, was a boy a little younger than Ultear, with the same dark hair and pale complexion.

"A child?" Jura murmured, frowning.

His eyes narrowing in suspicion, he turned away, focusing on the spell circles that were gone in the present day. They were complex, the details of the design too intricate for Jura to identify on sight alone. But even through the vision he could tell the frantic instability of it. Dangerous — this was the work of someone being driven by deep, twisted feelings.

"Gray."

The voice was distorted, as it travelling through a long tunnel. Turning back, Jura could see that a woman had appeared in the doorway, the pale, ghostly cast of her figure not quite hiding the concern and unease in her expression.

Ultear had gone completely still, if the resemblance had not been enough of a giveaway.

"What do you want, Ur?" the boy demanded, turning to the woman with a belligerent glare. Now that he had raised his head, the deep bags under his eyes were visible, as well as the slightly gaunt narrowness of his cheeks.

"Gray, you've been here for days," Ur said, frowning. "You need to take a break. And... I can't say I like you studying those things." She glanced sharply toward the stacks of grimoires and old notes.

Gray snorted. "Weren't you always telling us we should learn from every style of magic?" he said dismissively. "I'm just following your teachings, Master."

"You know that's not what I meant," Ur protested. "What these people were doing here is dark magic, it's evil. Nothing good can possibly come of it. You know that better than anyone! They're the ones who summoned that demon, Deliora—"

"They're the ones who would know the most about it then!" Gray shot back, spinning around to glare at her. "If there's a way to defeat it, it'll be here! I already learned more here than you ever knew!"

"About demons, maybe," Ur corrected him, her tone cool and firm. "But if you've already learned enough, then let's go home." She offered him a smile. "I want to hear about it. Maybe we can find a way to beat it now."

Gray shot her a rebellious, scornful look. "You already said you can't do it. You don't know how to make a weapon strong enough to destroy Deliora," he said. "So I'll do it myself. It's better this way. That's how it should be. I'll be the one to destroy it. I'll take revenge for Mom and Dad and our town!"

It was clear that Ur did not agree. She hesitated for several long moments, concern and uncertainty warring in her expression. Then, finally, she closed her eyes and let out a heavy, silent sigh. "It's been two years already," she said. "And I taught you everything I could. If you won't give up on this no matter what, I won't stop you. But Gray... Be careful. I don't want to lose another child."

Sharp and far more immediate than the distant, translucent memory, Ultear's gasp echoed through the cold room. The vision of her mother paused only for a moment, her gaze on Gray's hunched figure, before turning away and stepping out of sight.

Jura didn't watch or comment as Ultear instinctively rushed after her. Silently, he remained where he was.

Even if Ur's decision to leave her student — if that was what he had been — to his own devices, in such a clearly poor state of mind, seemed irresponsible, he understood. Sometimes, there was nothing anyone could say or do to help. Sometimes, you could only wait for them to make the first step on their own, whichever direction they chose.

Alone in the distant memory, Gray's shoulders trembled for a moment before he set his jaw and turned back to his work.

~.~.~

There was no point in chasing after only a vision of someone who was long gone. Ultear's voice caught in her throat, that reality hitting her again. There was no point in calling out or demanding an answer. Her mother, just ahead of her but already a year away, would never hear her.

Ur hadn't gone far. Something made her stop, just a little ways down the corridor, at the edge of Ultear's spell.

She paused, listening to something — someone — that Ultear couldn't see or hear, then sighed heavily. "I don't like it either," she said. "But what else can we do? Even if I drag him home, he'll just run away and start again. And it would break what trust he has left."

Ultear barely registered what she was saying. Even if there was no point, she couldn't stop herself from reaching out. Even if the result was obvious, she felt a sudden, sharp pain in her chest as her hand only passed through Ur's translucent back, the image wavering as it was disrupted.

She had thought she didn't care anymore, that she'd turned her back on her mother, just like her mother had turned her back on her. So why did it still hurt so much, to know they would never meet again?

The next words seemed to come from somewhere far away, only a faint echo. "It's not like that," Ur was saying, one year ago. "It left a deep scar on him. He has to see it through, even if he fails in the end. That might be the only way he can move forward. All we can do is make sure we're there for him afterwards."

What did Ur mean, that she didn't want to lose another child? Why had she abandoned her daughter? Or…

"That's right, Lyon," Ur said, her tone gentle even through the distortion. "Because we're his family now."

"M… Mother…"

The vision faded as Ultear lost control of her magic. Alone in the empty, cold hallway, she sank to her knees and cried.

~.~.~

The rare sight of Erza sulky childishly made Gray smirk. "You couldn't take a little cold? I didn't think you'd give up so easily," he couldn't help teasing.

Erza shot him a wounded, indignant glare. "I don't care about a little cold!" she hissed. "But it was sleeting. Everything was covered in snow and I couldn't even see the trail. I don't think there was a trail anymore. The dragon could fly over my head and I wouldn't notice it. I had to... temporarily suspend the mission, that's all!"

This was a perfectly reasonable concern, especially for Erza whose only experience traveling alone had been in Fiore's mild southern climate. Still, Gray made a point of nodding along as condescendingly as he could. "Yeah, that's gotta be really tough for you delicate western types," he said. "I mean, snow's so rare out here. Not like Isvan, where you learn to handle stuff like that by the time you can walk."

Sputtering angrily for a moment, Erza made a valiant effort to get her indignation under control. "It doesn't matter," she declared, straightening her back and lifting her chin imperiously. "It's fine even if I couldn't complete the mission. It doesn't matter at all!"

'I didn't say anything about the mission though...' Gray thought.

But if she brought it up, that meant it had been on her mind a lot. Gray could understand — he hated giving up or leaving anything half done, too.

"Well, you know, I could... help you," he suggested, looking away and rubbing at the back of his neck awkwardly. "Isvan's nothing but snow and mountains, and I've traveled around a lot, so I'm pretty used to it. I could probably help you climb that mountain. If you want."

He could feel the tips of his ears growing red with embarrassment, but, as he snuck a hesitant glance at Erza, it was worth it. She looked completely taken off guard, eyes wide in surprise. Slowly, a smile was beginning to spread over her face.

"A mission together? Let's do it!" she exclaimed. Then, pausing, she frowned. "Is that going to be okay? It's a mission for the knights."

"I don't think they're gonna care. They don't seem like they're picky about how you get things done," Gray said. "And it's not a secret or anything." Well, it better not have been one, since Erza had already told him all about it.

"That's true," Erza agreed easily. "Then, let's go—"

"In a couple days," Gray cut in quickly. Crossing his arms, he ignored Erza's protesting expression. "I bet half the problem was that you tried to go up in just your armor, right?"

By the stubborn look on her face, she really had. In snow and sleet, in just a blouse, a skirt and a breastplate... Erza was really something.

~.~.~

Tugging at the thick collar of the jacket Gray had provided her, Erza made a face. "I can't move properly in this," she muttered sulkily. It felt awkward and ungainly, and she hadn't even been able to wear Heaven's Wheel at her waist like usual, instead having to strap it onto her back along with their supplies.

"You'll manage," Gray said, without looking back at her. This was far from the first time he was hearing this complaint, and he'd given up trying to explain the logic to her. She hadn't been happy when he made them wait in one of the towns at the base of the mountain either, no matter how many times he explained that they were waiting out a blizzard.

Tilting his head back, he studied the clouds curling around Mount Zonia just a little further up the slope. He took a deep, slow breath and nodded to himself. Fiore was a little different from Isvan, but he was reasonably confident that the weather would remain in their favor — long enough to climb above the clouds, at least.

They would need to stop for the day soon though. It was almost dusk.

"There's supposed to be a ruin up ahead," he called back over his shoulder as they continued their trek. "We'll make camp there."

"A ruin?" Erza repeated. Despite being the steepness of the slope they were climbing and the thinning air — and carrying almost all their supplies — she didn't even sound winded. "Do you think the dragon might be living there?"

"You think it might?" Gray asked, glancing back dubiously. "I don't really know a lot about dragons. They didn't build anything themselves, right? A human hermit probably would live in some ruin around here. People are like that. But I don't think dragons are like humans... Then again, they're supposed to be closer to nature and magic. An old ruin on a sacred mountain is probably going to be built on a leyline, so maybe..."

Although she didn't really understand most of it, Erza let him talk — surreptitiously steadying him when he stumbled a little. The mountainside was beginning to even out a little, and as they crossed the next ridge, an almost level snow-covered slope opened up before them.

Even after what must have been centuries, the too even human-made form of step-like terraces were still clear under the snow. And the cluster of shapes in the middle of the widest terrace must have been the ruins.

As they approached, the shapes resolved into a rough circle of pillars and half-collapsed walls, all covered in elaborate markings. To Erza's surprise, the ground between them was bare of snow and, when they stepped into the circle, a faint warmth wafted up.

Gray nodded to himself. "Yeah, they definitely built here to tap into the magic of the land," he said, running a gloved hand over the carved stone. "...I don't recognize this writing at all... Well, it'll be a good place to spend the night."

He dropped his pack on the ground with a sigh of relief. Since Erza hadn't shown any signs of flagging, he'd pushed as hard as he could too — after talking big about how well he could climb a snowy mountain, he didn't want to be the one slowing them down. It was good to finally rest. Just in time too, as the sky was quickly growing dark and the wind was picking up a little, blowing snow across the slope.

"We probably shouldn't go much further, since we didn't bring a lot of rations," Gray started to say, digging into his pack. "Let's look around for another day or two, see if we can find those caves that are supposed to be around here. And if we don't find anything, let's turn back..."

He paused, realizing that Erza hadn't even moved, despite her usual efficiency in setting up camp. She had stopped a little ways off, and now stood looking at some of the rubble with silent concentration. Her expression was faintly troubled.

"What's wrong?" Gray asked as he made his way over to her. "Something strange?"

"It doesn't match," Erza said, a frown tugging at her lips. "There, that part, and that."

She pointed at two of the carved stones that lay at the base of a muraled wall that was surprisingly mostly intact. No, that wasn't right — a portion of it was intact, showing what looked like a great beast breathing flames down on something that had been on the far right, there the rest of the stone was broken away.

Compared to the muraled wall and the flat stone platform beneath it, the two pieces Erza had pointed out looked more like parts of a pillar, covered in what Gray assumed was writing. Craning his head around, Gray couldn't see any similar sections nearby.

'Did... someone bring them over?' he wondered. 'Why?'

He took a slow step back, then another, and it finally clicked what the piled stones reminded him of.

"It's like a throne," Gray said in surprise. He turned, looking in the direction someone sitting there would see. Even in the near dark, the view was impressive — the entire southern slope laid out in front of them, including the winding path Gray and Erza had taken, on the far right. The pillars in that would have blocked it had been broken almost down to their bases, he noticed.

"Does that mean someone comes up here? Do you think they'd know if there's a dragon here?" Erza asked, her mind turning immediately toward the mission.

"A hermit?" Gray suggested dubiously. "But everyone in the towns kept saying how this place is sacred and how dangerous it is and how we shouldn't come here... It's strange if someone is really living here. Well, I guess these might have been moved a long time ago. The magic in the ruins would keep most of the weather out, and... Erza?"

She had suddenly gone still, her eyes narrowing.

When Gray tried to ask again, she held up her hand, silencing him. "There's something out there," Erza said quietly. Her eyes swept the slope and the sky, her expression growing tense and she edged back toward Gray. "Stay close."

He hadn't seen or heard anything, but he couldn't deny Erza's senses were better. Not just sight or hearing — this time, she hadn't seen or heard anything either — but also her sense of danger and of being watched.

It prickled at the back of her neck and made her tense, her hand edging toward her sword, the instinctive certainty that something was out there in the darkness. Something large and powerful and very cold. She swallowed, her heart speeding up as those instincts screamed—

'Behind!'

She spun, halfway to drawing her sword, but the sight that greeted her made Erza abandon any intention of fighting. It wouldn't do them any good, she had learned down in the caves under Crocus.

Because towering over them as it rose from behind the ruins, dark and silent as the night, was a black dragon. A living dragon, its maw opening slowly and turning toward them.

Another person would have frozen or hesitated. But that kind of reaction had long since been ground out of Erza, any surprise shoved away before it could even surface. She dashed, tackling Gray around the waist, before he had a chance to react at all.

With a deafening crash, the dragon's tail slammed into the ruins where they had been standing, sending stones large and small flying.

'It's an enemy after all,' Erza realized distantly.

She was already tugging at the straps of her pack as they hit the ground, cutting it loose and letting it tumble away, leaving only Heaven's Wheel on her back. Her mind was racing, considering and discarding possible escape routes. Could they try to hide in the snow? No, a dragon's senses were probably too sharp to lose so easily. They couldn't hope to overtake it on foot either.

'It'll be rough, but there's no choice,' she thought.

Rolling to her feet without losing a moment, she dragged Gray after her and cut straight toward the edge of the terrace. Her eyes darted back over her shoulder, all her attention behind them. The dragon was slow to turn — not because it couldn't go faster, but because it saw no need. She could read the deliberate toying in its movements.

"That's— that's a dragon! A real dragon!" Gray gasped, caught in his own shock but at least following her instinctively. He stumbled, tripping, as he stared over his shoulder.

The dragon was straightening, spreading its massive wings. Moonlight caught on its paler belly and the markings across its arms and wings, giving them a blue sheen, but the rest of its form blurred against the dark sky.

A single, torpid flap of its wings sent near gale force winds tearing across the slope, stripping the snow from the rocks in a white flurry. Hitting them across the back, the winds ripped Gray and Erza off their feet and threw them straight over the edge of the terrace.

That had been Erza's goal all along. Grabbing hold of Gray, she pressed them together, heads down, as they hit the next ledge down and continue to roll down the slope, kicking up loose gravel and snow. It was dangerous, and painful, but it was their best chance to reach cover fast enough. If they could just make it down to a valley or ravine...

Erza winced, her teeth knocking together as they finally crashed to a stop. It felt like her entire body was bruised. She coughed, struggling to push herself up, but at least nothing felt broken, though it was hard to tell through the battle-ready haze.

Next to her, Gray groaned and shuddered. "We have to keep moving!" Erza said forcefully, reaching out to drag him to his feet. "Can you still run?"

"S-somehow," Gray managed, his breath shaking painfully.

They had landed on the lowest terrace, and the slope fell away steeply just head, the sheer wall disappearing into a wide, dark gorge. It was crazy — but they had no choice, and, stumbling, Erza began to pull him toward the edge.

If she could just control their fall... even the dragon wouldn't risk following them down the narrow crevice. Or so she hoped.

The great wings overhead made no sound, but the wind sweeping down the mountain side was unmistakable. Barely sparing a glance back to see the giant dark silhouette flying down toward them, Erza pulled Gray down to the ground, both ducking their heads as another gale crashed against them like a tidal wave.

But instead of attacking, the dragon veered off to the side at the last moment and spiraled up again. 'It's just playing with us,' Erza thought, gritting her teeth. Circling overhead, in and out of shadow, the dragon would swoop in just often enough to keep them pinned in place with the force of the wind kicked up by its passing.

It was only a matter of time before it lost interest and finished them off. Already, it was slowly closing in with each loop.

Trying to hide her movements, Erza shifted to get her legs under her. Her hand inched up to grasp at the hilt of her sword, and she tightened her grip on Gray. He was shaking under her arm, whether from fear or adrenaline. "Get ready," she said, voice low and tight.

He nodded, raising his head just enough for her get a glimpse of his pale face, scared but determined. His eyes darted to the dragon's circling shape, trailing it. "I'll try to give us an opening," he said. He didn't need to explain further — Erza could guess. With Ice Bringer, he meant. Gray had never used it purposefully, but he could weaken the seal on it, and bring it closer to the surface.

'Master Ur, please,' he thought desperately. The dragon banked, skimming so close that its winds pressed them into the ground again. The anchor shape of its tail dipped purposefully, dragging and digging into the slope, sending rubble flying. 'Now!'

Gray's shadow flowed out around them, like a pool of pitch black ink in the moonlight, and cold magic surged outward. A crescent wave of ice spires erupted across the mountainside, nearly piercing the black dragon, which weaved out of the way sharply. For the first time, it made a sound — a deep, rumbling growl that might have been surprise, or satisfaction, or irritation.

"Now! Run!" Erza yelled.

Letting her pull him along, Gray looked over his shoulder. His breath caught, eyes widening in fear, as he caught a glimpse of the dragon, shaking off the frost that had climbed up its scales and sweeping aside the ice spires, turning toward them with light gathering between its jaws.

"E-Erza!" he called out a warning.

She didn't dare spare a glance back. 'Just a little further!' Erza thought desperately. They were almost to the crevice. Yanking Gray forward and grabbing him around the waist, she shifted her weight and dashed — right over the edge.

Then, they were falling, the ravine dark and yawning beneath them.

Too slow — for the bare moments they hung in freefall, they were completely open. The edge was rising up between them and the dragon as they fell, cutting off Erza's view of the beast and its roar bearing down on them, but it was too slow. The blast was too wide. They would still be hit.

Gritting her teeth, Erza tried to twist enough to at least put herself between the light and Gray, for all the good it would do. She could feel his grip on her tighten, his head buried in her shoulder. "Please," she thought she heard him whisper.

The shadow of the gorge below surged up, and ice erupted along the edge, forming a wall between them and the dragon. It couldn't stand against the force of the shining roar, but where the spells collided, the dragon's spell was turned aside, shooting up and wide. Shards of ice and stone pelted them, and the accompanying shockwave slammed into them, throwing them plummeting down into the chasm.

'It's too fast! I have to—' Erza thought frantically, groping for her sword. But, buffeted by the winds whipping against them, her hand couldn't grasp the hilt.

At this rate, they'd hit the bottom of the ravine with full force.

A shadow overhead blotted out the stars, moonlight shimmering over blue markings — the dragon's shape, leaning over the edge. Light gathered between its jaws again, as it craned its long neck down. Would it be able to hit them despite the awkward angle?

Something shone far beneath, and a wave of magic washed upward from the bottom of the gorge, turning the air frigid. Erza's breath misted, as patterns of frost covered the stone walls they were falling past. Over their heads, the frost turned to spikes of ice, crisscrossing across the ravine's mouth and blocking out the night sky and the dragon.

A dulled explosion rocked the gorge, clouds of dirt and ice dust billowing from the gaps between spikes.

But there was no time to check what had happened. The ground was fast approaching, the stones lit by a faint blue glow. Another surge of magic — and what looked like vines and branches of ice reached up, clutching at them.

Then, impact.

~.~.~

Coughing, Erza startled back into consciousness. She didn't think she had been out for more than a few moments — overhead, broken ice shards still trickled down from between the crisscrossing spires, catching the blue glow.

She rolled over with a quiet groan and tried to figure out what had happened. The ground around them was covered in thin, shattered ice. What remained of its original shape looked almost like a massive frozen blossom. It must have broken their fall. Next to her, Gray was slowly coming to as well, and neither of them seemed to be injured beyond bruises and a few long, shallow scratches.

Climbing to her feet, Erza slowly turned to follow the long shadows to the strange blue light.

The source of it stood nearby, standing upright among the ice and frozen stone — a straight, double-edged claymore, made entirely of silver and glowing faintly.

'That must be...'

"Ice Bringer," Gray confirmed, his voice cracking a little with pain as he limped to stand next to her. "It must have unsealed completely."

'That wasn't just raw ice magic,' Erza thought, looking around them again and then up, toward the sealed mouth of the ravine. 'Those were real spells, matched to the battlefield.' "Gray..." she started to say.

"I know," he cut her off.

Erza nodded, falling silent. "...It bought us some time, but we should focus on getting out of here quickly," she said instead. "There's no way to tell if the dragon will try to follow, and I don't know how long the ice will last."

"Yeah. Just... give me a moment to seal it again," Gray said, letting out a heavy breath.

He stepped forward and kneeled, putting his hands on the ground. Erza watched for a moment, feeling a spark of interest in the magic she'd never seen before — whatever spell Gray used, it made his shadow turn sharply to point toward Ice Bringer and darken to an impossible pitch black. The inky blackness stretched out, circling the small pedestal of ice that the blade was embedded in. Slowly, the cold magic holding Ice Bringer in place dissipated, and it began to sink into Gray's shadow.

Just out of Gray's field of vision, Erza closed her eyes and silently bowed, in gratitude and respect.

With a last glimmer, even Ice Bringer's pommel disappeared into the inky shadow.

In the ensuing mirk, Gray let out a frustrated groan. "Hang on," he called out. "I should have a spare light lacrima somewhere..." He groaned again, quietly, realizing they'd lost both their packs — halfway up the mountain. Getting down would be an ordeal, without a doubt.

"No need," Erza said, finally drawing Heaven's Wheel with a soft chime. A moment later, the blade began to glow, as Ice Bringer had. Turning to Gray, she held out her hand. "Let's go. Stay close, okay?"

Gray hesitated, glancing away and back, then finally reached out. His fingers wrapped around Erza's, and she gave his hand a gentle squeeze.

As they set off, he chuckled weakly and said, "Well, at least we know there really is a dragon out there. I guess the mission is a success."

"...I think I would've preferred failing," Erza muttered.

~.~.~

Judging by his alarmingly blank expression when he received Erza's report, Kama would have preferred that she fail too.

He closed his eyes for a moment and took a deep, slow breath. "It's a miracle you made it back in one piece," he said in a forcefully even tone. "Good job staying alive."

Erza hesitated, uncertain how to answer. "Thank you," she finally decided.

If nothing else, her answer made Kama snort and smirk wryly. "That aside... You understand, right? There's nothing we can actually do about this. A living dragon is completely different from a wyvern, or a wyrm, or the ghosts under the palace. Even with the entire armed forces of Fiore, we'd need more than just a miracle to have even a prayer of taking it down."

"So we're going to leave it?" Erza said, her expression conflicted as she looked away.

"Yes, basically," Kama said flatly. "There's no telling how long it's been up there, but we haven't had any attacks or incidents that I can link to it. We'll put out an order to keep anyone from going up the mountain, but... As long as it doesn't move, we won't either."

"As long as it doesn't move..." Erza repeated.

She sighed. It wasn't like she couldn't see the logic. In the end, the dragon hadn't even pursued her and Gray any further. From a certain point of view, they were the ones who had trespassed on its territory, and many monsters would have reacted the same way.

But it wasn't just a monster, was it? Dragons were one of the great races. In the stories, they could even speak. How long could something — someone — be satisfied with a solitary existence on a mountain top?

'They can be killed,' Erza reminded herself. 'There's legends of it.' Laxus had mentioned it too. And that meant there was a way to do it. They would only need to find it again. 'I wonder if Gray knows anything about it...'

"Well, for now, we've got more immediate problems," Kama said, waving his hand dismissively. 'Alvarez, the mess with the tower, and now this? That old goat Darton just might have a heart attack at this rate,' he thought. To Erza, he added, "Take a break, and wait for your next assignment... and try not to have anything weird happen this time, will you?"

He didn't wait for a reply, slipping out and leaving Erza to stare after him with a faintly disgruntled expression.

"...It's not my fault," she protested to the empty room. It wasn't her fault at all.

~.~.~

 **Appendix: The seven great races**

 _Humans_ \- The most populous of the seven great races. Although humans existed alongside the other races in the distant past, the civilizations of that time have been almost entirely wiped out and their history lost. Due to this, humans are seen as the youngest of the races. They are also the furthest removed from nature and the flow of magic.

 _Wizards_ \- All humans have a container that gathers the magic present in nature, thus giving all humans the capacity to use magic to some extent. However, their potential varies greatly. For those with naturally large containers, their magic often manifests spontaneously during childhood in potentially dangerous ways, leaving them no choice but to seek training. Those who train in the use of magic are referred to as wizards.

 _Dragons_ \- Due to their solitary nature, dragons have never constructed a civilization. However, they possess great intelligence and longevity, and each individual dragon is a nearly unstoppable force due to their incredibly strong magic resistance and powerful magic attacks. Dragons once dominated western Ishgar, until most of their race perished in a war, supposedly among themselves. There has not been a confirmed sighting of a dragon in 400 years, but it is possible they still survive in the wild regions far from human settlements.

 _Giants_ \- The only ones to have successfully fought the dragons. Once a proud warrior race who sought glory through battle, their battlelust led them to near extinction. They now live in isolated villages and avoid contact with the other races due to a creed of non-interference.

 _Dwarves_ \- The great race of the earth. Their population began to decline for unknown reasons centuries ago, and they drew back to their ancestral mountain cities. Because they rarely venture onto the surface and avoid contact with other races, little is known about them otherwise. In the ancient days, they sometimes condescended to create masterworks of smithing for human heroes or rulers.

 _Fairies_ \- Also referred to as nature spirits and sometimes elves. They have many different types, which vary greatly in appearance and characteristics. They are said to be able to alter the flow of magic in nature, causing natural disasters at will. They also possess great aptitude for shapeshifting, and there are many stories of meeting a fairy unawares.

 _Gods_ \- Beings tied to the fundamental laws governing the magic of the world. The true nature of gods is incomprehensible to humans as they follow a different logic and exist on a different plain. Although every god's power is infinite, they have limited ability to interact with the physical realm, even when invoked by priests and holy rituals. The nature of their magic appears to be different from humans or any of those inhabiting Earthland.

 _Demons_ \- The antithesis of gods. Demons are able to use ether twisted by deep malice, and where malice gathers, they will incarnate as bringers of disaster. There are theories of "natural" demons coming into existence in order to maintain the balance of the world by filtering that tainted magic and returning it into the flow. However, the most well-known demons are those created by the Black Wizard Zeref, called Etherious.

 _Etherious_ \- The demons from the Books of Zeref. They are complex spells, recorded within the sealing books. Having no physical form, they must be incarnated through a vessel. Most commonly, they are summoned into temporary forms of pure ether that are maintained by the contractor's will and magic. The dark cult Avatar has made it their goal to create vessels that are able to withstand the strain of a demon's power and allow them to incarnate fully. Most branches have studied various kinds of golems in order to achieve this task, but others have used ceremonial implements or even monster and human corpses. The intelligence an incarnated Etherious displays depends on the degree to which its vessel is able to channel it. Their true nature and capacity is unknown.

~.~.~


	7. Giving and Given

**Notes:** The X777 childhood arc is finally done. Thank god... Anyway, I tried to turn it toward at least something vaguely hinting at possible romance, maybe, but uh. Yeah, no. I suck at romance or character relationships. ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯

 **EDIT: Jan 2017** I've lost all interest and love for Fairy Tail, so I'm unfortunately cutting this story short. There was supposed to be a X784 arc about Jellal and Alvarez, but I just don't have it in me to write it. Sorry!

~.~.~

 **VII. Giving and Given**

"You're leaving on a mission now?" Hisui said in surprise and dismay. "But then..."

Erza blinked at her in surprise. "Your Highness?"

"It's just... it's almost New Year's. If you get delayed on your mission at all, you'll miss the celebration," Hisui explained. She clasped her hands together awkwardly, glancing at Erza. "I was... Well, I had hoped we could spend New Year's Day together, at least some of it."

"I'll be back before the new year," Erza said with certainty. "Or the mission will be a failure. ...It's important? To spend New Year's Day together?"

"Well, a little?" Hisui replied uncertainly. "It's... a day for friends and family. We have audiences in the morning, but after that, I would like to spend some time with you, exchange gifts... Oh, speaking of gifts, have you gotten something for Master Kreuz yet?" she asked. "Just so you are aware, I intended to give him a book of local legends and stories. But if that was also your plan, I can find something else..."

She trailed off, seeing Erza's blank expression. "Giving gifts for the new year..." Erza started, leaning in a little and lowering her voice, "who do have to give them to?"

Hisui chuckled awkwardly. The gaps in Erza's knowledge still caught her off guard sometimes. "It's tradition," she explained. "Just to friends and family is enough. To Master Kreuz, for example. I'm sure he'll get you something too. I will be giving Papa a gift, of course. I also have some social obligations, for some of the nobles and our closest allies, but I don't think the Garou Knights will expect anything."

Listening to the explanation closely, Erza nodded along. She didn't have any family, and the Garou Knights aside, she didn't have any social ties either. That left Gray, and maybe Lambert... And if Hisui was giving Gray something, then she would probably give Erza a present too, even if she hadn't mentioned that.

'Right, presents are supposed to be a secret,' Erza thought, even though she didn't really understand why.

Three people, then. Fortunately, that went well with her mission.

That mission was quite simple and straightforward, even though it had come directly from the king himself — to go to Era and purchase a magic grimoire for Hisui.

"It'll be her New Year's present," Toma had explained. "Master Makarov told me she's ready to move past the basics, but that means she will need to study a specific style. We don't have many magic tomes in Fiore, so we'll need to purchase one in Era. But there's plenty of fakes out there, so I will leave it to you to go in person and choose a real grimoire. You're friends with my Hisui, so I know you'll pick one that will suit her."

Being friends with the princess — Erza supposed they really were. They met often, and they talked about things that had nothing to do with work or duties. Hisui asked for advice often, and Erza had stopped hesitating about asking her things too. Since they were the same age, everyone already assumed they were friends anyway.

If she compared the way she felt about Hisui to her feelings for Wally, Sho, Millianna, Simon... It wasn't the same. But it wasn't completely different either.

'Friends, huh,' Erza thought. 'I have two friends.'

It was more than she could have imagined having, at one point. Not just friends — all of it. A place to call home, celebrating holidays, giving and receiving presents, even being able to spend a leisurely while together. Sometimes, it made her chest feel tight and full of happiness that she might burst.

~.~.~

However, Hisui had brought up a very troubling point — Erza had no idea what to give Gray. Lambert was a warrior, so she could guess with him, and Hisui talked so much about her life that Erza knew exactly what she wanted. But Gray... What did he even like, aside from his work?

Why was Hisui getting him a book in the first place?

"Do you like books?" Erza asked, staring at him dubiously.

Gray, who had been in the middle of making the last adjustments on her winter cloak, paused and stared back. "You... Why are you asking that now?" he muttered, around the pins in his mouth.

"Do you?" Erza pressed stubbornly.

"They're okay," Gray sighed, giving in. "Hold up your arms — it depends on what's in the book. They're useful for learning things, but I don't really love them or anything."

Erza nodded, making sure to hold her pose steady while Gray tugged at the folds and grumbled to himself. "Do you like history? Legends and things like that?" she asked.

"Not particularly," Gray muttered distractedly. "But it's important if you want to learn about why magic gets used this way or that."

'So it's a practical gift,' Erza surmised. That made it easier. She could understand practical things. Maybe she could get Gray some rare catalyst then? There were bound to be plenty of them in Era. But she didn't really know anything about them. Which one should she get?

"Alright, you can take it off," Gray said, stepping back. "Give me half an hour, and it'll be done. By the way, if you have time when you're in Era, could you see if you can get some of this stuff for me?"

He held out a piece of paper with a long list of strange names followed by quantities. Although they were almost entirely unfamiliar to Erza, she could guess that they were materials, reagents, and catalysts that Gray couldn't find in Crocus.

"This should cover the costs," Gray added, handing her a pouch of gold as well. Seeing her sulking expression, he paused. "What's wrong? You think you'll be too busy? You don't have to do it, it's fine."

"No, I'll do it," Erza said firmly. It was just a bit annoying — if he gave her a list like this, she couldn't buy any of it as a gift.

This gift giving business was turning out more complicated than she'd expected.

~.~.~

Darton was already waiting by the doors to the audience room when Toma and Arcadios approached. He gave a sharp nod of acknowledgement, his expression even more ill-tempered than usual.

"So far, his story appears to match," he said without any greeting or preamble. "Not that it means much. We have too little information on Alvarez to judge whether he's lying or not. The only thing I can say is that his paperwork, travel documents and trade applications are correctly filed according to the new treaty, and that the Runic Order allowed him and his group entry."

For all that was worth, was the silent but obvious implication.

"He's not carrying anything magical in nature except some protective charms on his ring," Kama commented, stepping out of the shadows. "And judging by the level of magic in his body, he's not a practicing wizard either."

"He's not carrying anything as far as you can tell," Darton said. "Alvarez magic is different."

"Yes," Kama agreed dryly. "Regrettably, I don't know how to find magic I don't know anything about."

"Now, now, let's not get so worked up already," Toma said, waving his hands placatingly as the two of them glared at each other. "He could be telling the truth, and there's no need for all this suspicion. Arcadios will be attending the meeting, and Kama will be watching secretly. We're as prepared as we can be. Shall we begin?"

Receiving no objections, the king smiled and pushed open the doors to the audience room.

There was only one man inside, dressed in a simple but well-cut suit. His eyes quickly passed over Arcadios and Darton, who took their places on either side of the throne, and, once the king was seated, he bowed deeply. "Thank you for agreeing to meet me today," he said. "It's an honor, Your Majesty."

"Welcome, welcome!" Toma greeted, gesturing for him to straighten. "It's a pleasure to have our first official visitor from Alvarez. I hope you are finding Fiore to your liking so far."

"You have a beautiful country," the man said. "It's quite different from any part of Alvarez. Please forgive any impropriety on my part. I am still adjusting to the customs here."

"Of course. Understanding and compromise are key to any relationship. As long as both sides keep an open mind, I'm sure this will become a fruitful partnership for both our countries," Toma said. "We expect great things from the new trade routes we are establishing."

The man tilted his head in imitation of another bow. "Then let me reiterate that it is an honor to be on the forefront of that partnership," he said.

Although it would not be brought up, his presence as the first delegation from Alvarez was surprising, so late in the year. The Alvarez ports closest to Ishgar were to the north, and it had been assumed that no one would make the trip until spring at the earliest. Their visitor was very reckless or very determined, to push through in winter.

Darton and Arcadios exchanged a quick glance — both found it suspicious, naturally.

"The trade ministry informed me that you have a particularly interesting and ambitious proposal," Toma noted, leaning back. "Ambitious enough to require my direct approval."

"Yes, but I believe it will be well worth your attention," the man said. "Let me begin by introducing myself. I am Jude Almathis, head of the Almathis Group. We are a trade organization that specializes in transportation of goods between the many regions of the empire. Unfortunately, the government expressed some concerns regarding revealing the exact size of our fleets, but I can assure you that Almathis is a household name in Alvarez."

"Then you would like to handle the transportation of goods between Alvarez and Ishgar?" Toma guessed.

"Certainly, that is a great opportunity for us," Jude said, "but we have another proposal. The key to transportation is infrastructure — and technology. What we would like to offer to Fiore, and the rest of Ishgar, is a certain technology that can decrease travel time between major cities by days or even weeks. This technology is known as the railroad."

~.~.~

As a soldier with a deep sense of duty and propriety, who was rumored to sleep upright in full armor if at all, Arcadios rarely allowed himself to indulge in anything that might dull his senses. But, after finally returning to his office, he pulled out a decanter of an expensive, amber alcohol and poured himself a glass.

Glancing at the shadows, he raised an eyebrow and offered, "A glass for you?"

Kama chuckled as he emerged, shaking his head. "No, I'm good. I still need to take Kamika's report on our new friend, the good Mister Almathis, later tonight," he said.

He could at least be grateful that he and Arcadios had been dismissed from the emergency meetings that were still in progress. The audience with Jude alone had lasted a good while, as he explained the basic concept behind the technology of "trains" — which was simple enough fundamentally, but impressive in the lack of any magic involved.

The trade ministry, who had been summoned immediately afterwards, had certainly been intrigued by the promised speed and reliability, but naturally also skeptical. So had the other ministry representatives summoned afterward, for the next round of a conversation Kama had already grown tired of. Thankfully, that was when he and Arcadios were finally dismissed, having little to contribute to a discussion about trade, finance and technology. Darton, who had remained, was more than suspicious enough of Alvarez for all of them.

"Do you suppose he's telling the truth — about his railroads?" Arcadios asked, taking a careful sip of the spirits in his tumbler.

"Probably. Most of it, anyway. I'm sure he's playing up some of it to make a better sell, but we already know Alvarez has strange technologies," Kama said, shrugging.

"Like that airship," Arcadios said. "But that was magic. This is..." He gestured vaguely, trying to express the strange sense of contradiction in that. All along, they had worried about Alvarez's unsettling, dangerous magic. To have a place like that also embrace technological advancement felt like it went against all sense.

Those who embraced technology were those who had rejected magic — that was the common sensibility. Except in Alvarez, it seemed.

Kama inclined his head, understanding his point. "Alvarez is a big place, even we know that," he allowed. "Maybe there's parts of it that love magic and parts that don't use magic much. There might be areas where there's no magic at all. There's no way to know." He snorted. "Runic Order's going to flip though. This is going to make a mess of everything for them."

And not just in the general sense. 'If they haven't been meddling with the advancement of technology here, I'll eat Cosmos's hat,' Kama thought.

Thinking about the Runic Order made him think about Era, and thinking about Era — he grimaced.

Surely even Erza could make one simple trip to pick up a book. Then again, the girl had managed to find a dragon — an actual dragon — while investigating routine rumors. She'd been to Era before and made it out without any issue... unless you counted an ancient wyrm appearing out of nowhere. And that had been with the princess and a full delegation. Alone, there was no telling what kind of logic-defying nonsense Erza might end up in.

Everything from overly persistent recruiters to illegal slavery rings to just plain getting lost flashed through Kama's mind, and he had to stifle a groan.

He would have preferred to send someone with her, but that had been right around the time that the Almathis group arrived. Receiving a mission directly from the king, Erza hadn't bothered confirming it with her commander and just took off before he even knew about it. He supposed he could scold her for that when she returned, but since it was a mission from the crown, she wasn't precisely wrong, just a bit inconsiderate.

'Why did I take this forsaken job?' Kama wondered not for the first time. 'Why did I even want to recruit that terrible girl?'

Staring broodingly down into his glass, Arcadios remained thankfully unaware of his thoughts. "To be honest, I would prefer the order deal with Alvarez, even the traders," he admitted. "It would give them even more influence, but at least we could avoid their meddling. Serving as an intermediary like this makes me uneasy."

"There's no helping it. Era is inland, and we're the closest and best placed to receive their ships," Kama said, his tone echoing Arcadios's sentiments.

Of the other nations on the western ocean, Seven was too cold, with their ports impassable a good part of the year, and Caelum was too far south, not to mention the whirlpools and treacherous currents along their shores. So it was always going to be Fiore that Alvarez reached first.

For trade, and in the case of an invasion.

As if they didn't have enough problems — dragons, demons, and a hungry empire at the door.

Kama sighed, remembering the reason now. No matter how much trouble she caused, there was no denying Erza's power and, more importantly, her potential. That potential would be sorely needed soon.

...But hopefully not for a few years yet. Until he could trust her not to unearth some ancient god on her way to buy the princess a holiday gift, at least.

~.~.~

Despite Kama's dire expectations, Erza made it to Era without incident.

Even moving inland from Fiore, the main highways remained passable during the winter, although travel was much slower in the short, cold days — no one seemed amenable to Erza's suggestion to keep pushing on well after dark.

The king had asked Master Makarov, who had asked his old friend Master Bob, who had asked one of his subordinates, to gather a few suitable grimoires for Erza to choose from, to spare her from having to search the city herself. Thus, her first stop upon arriving in the Runic City was the famous — or infamous, depending our perspective — Club Blue Pegasus, the domain of same-said Master Bob.

It was already growing dark, and the crowds had begun to gather. Warmth and laughter drifted out from the open doors of the club, welcoming all — which didn't stop Erza from receiving several questioning, dubious looks as she made her way inside. It was not precisely the place for a child. Rather, it was an "adult" establishment.

Erza had never been in a club before, or a bar, and the hum of background chatter, the dimmed lights, and the myriad of scents drifting through the air took her by surprise. She hesitated in the middle of the entry way, momentarily unsure how to proceed.

That was when they pounced.

"Welcome, my lady!"

"Welcome, princess!"

"Welcome, to Club Blue Pegasus!"

Three young men in dark suits suddenly went down on one knee in front of her. Erza stared blankly.

"Ah, what an enchanting crimson bloom has been swept into our hall by the winter winds!" one exclaimed, reaching out to clasp her hand in both of his. Erza twitched.

"This is truly a blessed season, to bring about our meeting," another enthused, sidling up to her and placing a hand in the middle of her back. Erza gritted her teeth.

"So how shall we serve you? Anything is possible, for you," the last declared, leaning in close and reaching out — to caress her face or sweep back her hair, or some other gesture of intimacy. Erza had enough.

Pinning the third with a glare, she allowed a drop of killing intent to leak through into her voice and said very coldly, "Don't touch me."

He was lucky that was all she did, all three of them were. A year ago, even six months back, she would have broken their hands on reflex.

All three of them were wizards, she could tell that much from the subtle magic emanating from them, and they could just as easily feel the immense power coiled inside her. As it flexed with Erza's irritation, they went completely still. Slowly, Erza pushed back the folds of her cloak enough to give them a glimpse of Heaven's Wheel at her hip. They gulped and took a quick step back.

"I need to speak to the master here," she said. "Immediately."

"R-right away!" the host trio chorused.

In short order, Erza had been ushered to a place of honor in a private room, the cushions fluffed to her liking, a glass of something pink and sweet in front of her — though she only sniffed at it doubtfully — and several very attractive young men waiting on her hand and foot. She magnanimously allowed them to take her cloak, but only with a stern warning that it was important to her. The poor young host she gave it to, only a couple of year older than her, squeaked in terror and clutched the cloth like his life depended on it.

The master of the club, who had arrived a while back, watched the scene with obvious amusement.

Finally, he couldn't contain his laughter anymore.

"My, my, you boys still have a long way to go," Master Bob chuckled, as the hosts turned to him with pleading eyes, before his expression turned scolding. "An unsatisfied customer is a mark of shame! It doesn't matter what she came for, a host must read the customer's heart and give her what she desires! Certainly not just rely on the same set of cheap platitudes, tsk, tsk."

He shook his head in disapproval, clicking his tongue. His employees drooped under the weight of his disappointment, shuffling out pathetically.

"You can read a person's heart and find out what they want?" Erza asked. "Is it a magic?"

Master Bob laughed again, his entire body shaking with mirth. "It's the magic of love, the most important quality of a great host!" he declared. "Ah, Hibiki, bring that special order, will you?"

One of the hosts slinking away with their tails between their legs paused and turned back. "You mean, she's the one from Fiore?" he said in surprise, which quickly turned to consideration. "Of course, I should have realized... all the signs of travel are there, and that cloak used threads from both Caelum and Bellum. Only Fiore trades with both..."

"And Makarov said to look for a girl with red hair," Master Bob added.

"Master! You didn't tell us that!" Hibiki protested.

"Oh, I didn't?" Master Bob said, one hand against his mouth in surprise. "My bad, I guess I forgot!"

Erza ignored Hibiki as he sighed and scurried out of the room. "A love magic?" she pressed instead, in her usual single-minded way. "Can you teach me? There's someone whose heart I really need to read."

"No, no, love is a magic all of its own!" Master Bob said. "It's something you learn from other people... but not something anyone can teach you. I suppose, it's just something you are given freely. If you have a strong feeling of love, you'll be able to understand their heart someday, I'm sure of it."

"So if I don't know what he wants, it's because I don't have enough love?" Erza guessed.

"Love takes time to build, and to reach the other person," Master Bob said sagely. "You're still so young, I'm sure you'll be able to understand his heart in time." Then, reaching out to clasp her shoulder with a serious expression, he added, "But don't let any boy pressure you into something you're not ready for. Waiting for the other person to be ready is love too."

They had completely misunderstood each other somewhere along the way.

However, Erza gave this advice due consideration, then nodded back just as seriously. "I'm ready," she decided. "I want to exchange gifts with Gray. So I need to know what's in his heart."

Aside from swords, which Erza was sure there were plenty of. In a way, everything he made came from his heart. However, she didn't think she could give Gray a sword. But maybe a dagger...? He did need a way to protect himself, even if Ice Bringer was always watching over him.

Distracted by her thoughts, she didn't notice Master Bob barely hide a surprised, amused chuckle. "Exchanging gifts... such an innocent affections," he murmured to himself, wiggling in a pleased way. To Erza, "Well, for a gift, it can come from your heart. Yes, your heart will know the right gift for your Gray!"

That was entirely too vague to be helpful, in Erza's opinion, but she didn't have a chance to press further.

A stack of heavy, thick tomes in his arms, Hibiki staggered into the doorway of the private room. He wavered for a moment, struggling to maintain his balance, and lurched forward. The stack was beginning to tilt, wobbling threateningly, but Hibiki backpedalled desperately and somehow managed to balance it long enough to reach the table.

Despite his clumsy movements, the way he set down the books was gentle and filled with outmost care. To a wizard, any grimoire — no matter the magic within — was a priceless treasure, the culmination of a life's work and the key to knowledge that could so easily be lost forever.

"His Majesty requested tomes on light magic," Master Bob said, as Hibiki laid the grimoires out across the table. "Acting as intermediaries, we were able to find these through our contacts. Do you know what you're looking for more specifically?"

Erza didn't answer, only running her fingers lightly over the covers. They were all genuine grimoires. She could feel the magic inside them, but that was to be expected. Master Bob wouldn't have tried to fool a customer sent by his old friend Makarov.

But which one felt most like Hisui? Even Erza couldn't tell.

Hisui didn't have a strong presence of magic. If Erza had to say, she would consider Hisui's defining characteristic to be her affability, her ability to smile and keep a calm, steady demeanor in any situation. Hisui's presence was soft, subtle, and adaptable, which also made it hard to read.

As such, it was more a matter of choosing a magic Hisui would like. But... Erza sighed. She really wasn't good at reading her friends' hearts, was she?

'Not enough love, then?' she thought, quite seriously.

Her gaze and her hand paused on one cover. The silvered letters of the title had begun to fade with age, but the words were still clear enough. "Heavenly Body..." Erza read aloud.

It reminded her of the story Hisui liked so much, the Heavenly Record, which Gray had used to name Heaven's Wheel. But the feel of the magic in the book... it was familiar too. A distant familiarity, from somewhere long before the two of them.

"Ah, Heavenly Body magic is certainly a powerful choice," Hibiki said with a salesman's smile, as Erza picked up the tome and let it fall open in her hand. "It allows the caster to use the properties of astronomical objects, racing like a meteor in the sky or shooting beams like starlight. And it's not only a magic of light. There are spells that use gravity as well! It is a versatile and beautiful style. A truly regal choice!"

'You're doing it a bit too thick, Hibiki,' Master Bob thought, shaking his head a little. 'More subtle, more subtle!' His knowledge of magic and memorization were amazing, but Hibiki's skills as host still needed some polishing.

Fortunately, Erza was too distracted to notice.

"Meteor... starlight..." she murmured, her eyes darting over the pages. It was a good grimoire — she could feel the shape of the spells within it, if only a whisper. Yes, those spells were familiar, from what felt like long ago.

Racing like a meteor, the spell she'd copied roughly as a short dash. Shooting beams like starlight, dominating every battle so no opponent could even get close. This magic felt like him — like Jellal.

Most likely, this was the style he had been naturally inclined toward, his magic's original manifestation. He'd always been looking up toward the stars, hadn't he? 'It's nice, isn't it? Being so high above the clouds,' he'd said. 'The sky is so clear!'

As if there could be anything good about being in that horrible tower... He was always that kind of person.

Until he wasn't.

In the end, the power he used to destroy the tower was completely different. Closing her eyes, expression brittle, Erza could still see the last vision of him — floating over the top of the tower, his hand around her neck as he held her up; his impossibly complex magic circle combining four elements into a single devastatic, dark power.

'Wait, Jellal! Everyone— everyone is still in there!'

'If they deserve to live, they will survive. Isn't that how we lived this far? Only the strongest, that is the truth of the world. You too, survive this—'

Falling, down toward the sea below the clouds, as he released his grip.

'Abyss Break.'

The dark blast shooting down, tearing through the tower, was the last thing Erza remembered before hitting the water and losing consciousness.

'What happened back then, Jellal?' she let herself wonder for the first time. 'What did they do to you?'

It was too late now, of course. He hadn't answered her back then either. She would never know why things had turned out that way.

"Oh dear, oh dear... Are you alright, sweetheart?" Master Bob called out worriedly, when she remained stiff and still for too long. "Did we let a bad one through? I was sure we checked all of them for any traps or tricks."

"...No," Erza managed, forcing herself to take a deep breath. "It's... a fine magic tome. A good magic."

It was, wasn't it? She had always thought it was beautiful, back then. It had protected them during their battles — Jellal had protected them. A beautiful, powerful magic from the stars — it was certainly a magic of light. That was the way she wanted to remember it. No matter came after, there was light in those memories, something precious.

Hisui would like it too, she thought. The name, in particular.

Taking another slow breath, Erza nodded to herself. "This one," she said. "I'll take this one."

It was a good magic, and it deserved to be used.

~.~.~

Choosing a gift for Hisui from herself also came easily, when she went shopping the next morning — although, admittedly, the princess would like any present she received.

Unfortunately, Erza's feelings of satisfaction didn't last long because, as always, Gray had to be a problem. Not even speaking of an actual gift, the list he'd given Erza alone was proving too much. Erza had assumed that the fact she didn't recognize anything on it had to do with her own ignorance. As it turned out, it wasn't just her — none of the shopkeepers seemed to recognize any of it either.

"Clear Ciel crystal? Lilium orb?" the jeweler read off, shaking his head in confusion. "I've never heard of those, or anything else on here."

The smiths hadn't heard of Inhibitor ore either. The apothecary didn't know about Dinei potions or Penguinist quills. No one knew what an All Divide might be. Erza didn't think that Gray had played a prank on her, and he'd said it was alright if she couldn't get what he asked for, but it was all very frustrating.

"I see... Thank you for your time," Erza muttered, glaring down at the paper the jeweler handed back to her.

But even preoccupied with her frustration, she didn't miss the prickling feeling of someone's eyes on her. Turning slowly, Erza stared back — at a boy her age, who was studying her consideringly. It was a little impressive that he didn't look away despite her flat look.

"What do you want?" Erza said badly, straight to the point.

The boy raised one pale, thin eyebrow and suddenly smirked. "I heard what you're looking for," he said. "I was just surprised that someone else would be interested in those kinds of things. Are you a crafter?" His eyes trailed over her cloak, focusing on the stitching in the same way Gray sometimes looked at weapons that he was mentally deconstructing.

That wasn't the only way he reminded her of Gray — even though they looked as different as night and day. After a moment, she realized it was the faint roll of his accent, which she hadn't heard from anyone else in Fiore.

"No," she answered, after a moment. "But I know one. He asked me to get those things."

"I thought so," the boy said with obvious satisfaction. "They're rare materials. I don't think anyone except a crafter would even use them. You won't be able to just buy them... but I have keep some in stock, in case I need them. I can sell a bit to you, as a favor to a fellow crafter."

"Alright," Erza agreed. "Let's go."

She had already taken two steps before she realized the boy wasn't following her. "Wait, wait," he said, shaking his head. "You're not going to just go with some stranger like that, are you? Don't you at least want to know my name? Or see some proof that I'm not messing with you?"

"Oh, that's true," Erza said. "I haven't introduced myself. I'm Erza, of the Fiore Kingdom's Garou Knights." She didn't bother addressing his other points, only lifting her arm to part the folds of her cloak — and let him see the sword at her waist, the proof that she could more than handle any trap or trick.

His eyes widened, and Erza wondered if he recognized how amazing Gray's work was — even if she didn't have much basis for comparison, she was sure Heaven's Wheel was a masterpiece. But there was something else that settled in his gaze, something unreadable but heavy, like a growing suspicion.

"I see..." he said slowly. "I'm Lyon. Lyon Saphir."

~.~.~

Lyon led the way to a small shop some distance from the main shopping districts of Era. The sign above the door was a six point star — no, a snowflake, in a silver paint like Gray's sword-cross emblem. Maybe it was a crafter tradition, or had some hidden meaning. Perhaps Erza would ask when she got back to Fiore.

Inside was a little larger than Gray's shop, wider, with a single open showroom. Pedestals stood along the walls and hooks were hanging from the ceiling. Mounted on them were animals — made of wood and metal, jewels and feathers, and many other materials that Erza couldn't identify. Pausing in front of an elaborately plumaged bird, intricate gold design gleaming between the feathers, Erza reached out cautiously. She jumped a little as the bird suddenly moved, spreading its wings and bowing.

"Surprised? They're not just plain tools," Lyon said, smirking over his shoulder. "My specialty is automatons — dolls that move on their own according to their purpose. Unlike golems, they don't need to be directly controlled by the master's magic." With the same face Gray always made when asked to craft more dresses, he added, "Of course, I can make golems too."

"So crafting can do this too," Erza mused, tilting her head to get a better look at the bird doll. It mimicked her motion, curving its long neck gracefully. She could just make out the glint of tiny gears in its wings and inside the latticed body, but its movement were smooth and only slightly stilted.

"If you know how," Lyon said, his tone a little off. "So, the guy who made your sword, he specializes in just weapons? It's... pretty high class. Working silverite is... rare." He hesitated, his expression strange. "About him... is he..." But he trailed off without finishing his question and only shook his head. "Nevermind. I'm going to go see what I have in stock."

He hurried away before Erza could say anything. She stared after him blankly. Asking a bunch of questions, not even finishing the last, and then hurrying off without waiting for a single answer... Maybe crafters were all weird, like Gray.

Shaking her head, she turned back to the works on display. Not all of them were animal automatons — several shelves held statues of plants or abstract shapes, and Erza wondered if they somehow moved too. It was hard to believe this was considered the same as what Gray did. Then, again, comparing dresses and swords, Gray's works weren't particularly similar to each other either.

What would he think of Lyon's creations? Erza could only think that they were beautiful if delicate, but Gray would probably list off every aspect of the creation method. He'd find it interesting, wouldn't he?

Smiling suddenly, Erza nodded to herself. Practical and personal — a good gift.

"Here, this is most of it," Lyon called out as he returned from the back of the shop, holding out a surprisingly small parcel. "There's a couple things I don't have, but that's because you can't get them at all out here in the west. I wouldn't waste time trying anywhere else around the city."

Erza nodded, accepting it carefully. It was heavy, almost making her fumble. "How much is it?" she asked. "Also, I'll take one of your tools. I need another moment to decide which one."

"I'm surprised you're interested," Lyon said. "You don't look like the type to use artificial familiars... or want a fancy decoration."

"It's not for me," she said simply. "It's a gift, for the one who made my sword. I think he'll like it."

Lyon's lips thinned and he seemed to be on the verge of asking something, only to hesitate again. "If you're buying him a present, you must be close," he compromised. "Or just politeness?"

"He's my friend," Erza agreed easily.

"That's... that's good then," Lyon said, his tone strange again. "And the sword he made, it works well for you?"

Smiling, Erza nodded. "It's just right." Instinctively, her hand lifted to touch the hilt of Heaven's Wheel. "Not just this one. All the things he's made have been amazing. They've protected me every time. It's thanks to him that I've been able to come this far as a knight."

She'd said the same to Gray, before, and Erza was happy to repeat it. There was a warmth in her chest that accompanied the words, like a proof their sincerity — the proof of their friendship.

Lyon nodded slowly. "That's... how a crafter should be," he said. "If he's figured that out..." He sighed heavily. For a moment, his gaze grew distant as he was absorbed in his thoughts, but in the end he just shook his head and turned away. "Here," he said, pulling an object from one of the shelves. "Take this."

Shifting the parcel into the crook of one arm, Erza cupped the item in the palm of her other hand. It was a pale white crystal, which she almost mistook for a lacrima at first, carved in the shape of a flower and set in a silvery metal frame. As Erza held it, the flower opened, spreading its petals, and began to emit a soft glow from its core.

"It's a lamp," Lyon explained. "Out here, there's a lot of lacrimas that are easier to carve, but it's not like that in Isvan. So everyone uses crafted lamps there instead. This shape... it's something like a trademark of my... our teacher. It's just a guess, but I think that friend of yours will like it."

Erza's thoughts had been along the lines of something small but complicated — easy to transport back to Fiore, but interesting for Gray to study. A lamp seemed awfully plain, but...

"Isvan? That's perfect then," Erza decided, smiling.

'Isvan, huh...' Lyon thought. 'Then it's definitely...' With that craftsmanship, it couldn't be anyone else. He would have recognized the style of that silverite sword anywhere. 'So he ended up in Fiore.' His hand clenched for a moment, but a deep breath — and the surge of ugly rage-sorrow unraveled.

'In the end, a crafter doesn't decide how their creations are used,' Ur had told them. 'True, you need to think about what you're making. There's things that should never exist... But the final choice isn't with you. You can only give people the tools. What they do with them is their decision.'

Gray had made something that should not have existed. But Ur was the one who chose to use it.

'Crafters aren't like legendary heroes,' Ur had also said. 'We're not remember for what we do, only for what we leave behind. Our legacy is what we create.' And then she'd grinned, ruffling their hair. 'And of course, our cute little students!'

Despite that, Ur had become a hero. The rumors had been trickling in, only a little behind Lyon, of the one who managed to destroy a demon. That... wasn't how Ur wanted to be remembered, Lyon thought, not the legacy she'd wanted to leave behind.

Coming to Era, becoming a master, doing the work of crafter, those were the only ways Lyon could carry on her true legacy.

If Gray was doing the same thing, then... Lyon sighed, making a frustrated, petulant face. 'Master Ur, you better be proud,' he thought rebelliously. 'It's not like I'm going to forgive him, but I'll allow this much.'

Erza closed her hand, making the flower close as well, becoming a simple, easy to carry teardrop shape. Perfect for travel too, it really was a great gift. "How much will it be?" she asked, looking back to Lyon.

"Just take it, on the house," he muttered, crossing his arms and scowling.

"If I don't buy it, it's not a gift from me," Erza protested.

Lyon threw up his hands. "Then take it for five jewel!"

Erza was about to protest that as well — 'I don't need a discount,' she wanted to say, but a sense of familiarity made her pause and stifle a smile. That was what she'd said to Gray the first time, wasn't it? Looking back, she realized now that he'd given her one anyway. He certainly hadn't charged her the full price of what his time and work was worth.

She had ended up ruining the vest he'd made when it took a blow for her on patrol, and she had cracked the blade against the ghost dragon under Mercurius — but the sword still hung on the wall of her quarters, an important memento, even if it could not be used any longer.

This time, she didn't need to be tricked into accepting the kindness she was given. Whatever Lyon's reasons, she would just be grateful.

"Okay," Erza said simply. "Thank you."

~.~.~

"I didn't think it would be this hard," Gray admitted, his words muffled as he dropped his head into his arms. "I just don't know what to get her!"

Hisui made a vague sound of encouragement, though it was fortunate he couldn't see her — her eyes were glinting with amusement at his predicament.

"I thought it'd be easy," Gray went on. "I'd just make her something. But..."

But he already made Erza things all the time. Weapons, armor, even small useful items, Erza already had all of those because Gray had made them for her. And they were all quality works, it wasn't as if he'd held back. He supposed he could create something more specialized, imbued with a specific element or property, but to be frank, Erza wasn't at the level where she could make use of that yet and she had no need for it either.

And, well, Gray wanted the gift to be something special, unique. Not just another armament, but something that stood out.

Groaning, he banged his head lightly against the surface of the table. "I thought I'd have more time to figure it out, but she's back already," he muttered. "And I have all those orders for the New Year parties..." He let out a sound of disgust.

For a moment, Hisui struggled to hide her smile, but her sympathy won over her amusement. "Maybe you're looking at it the wrong way," she suggested. "Rather than what would be useful to her, you could give her something she doesn't have."

Gray turned his head fractionally to peek at her sideways. "...Like what?" he said sulkily. "She's got everything, that's the problem."

"You two... She has all the practical things, but there's many things Erza doesn't have," Hisui huffed a little. "For example, any nice bedding. I asked the maids — she sleeps on a bare mattress, with just one old blanket. And it's not like she'll get anything nice for herself, even if her stipend should more than cover it..."

She had a point there. Erza wouldn't spend money on anything "frivolous" like a simple creature comfort. Gray was pretty sure she still didn't own a single casual outfit. Even the blouse and skirt she had taken to wearing under her armor had come secondhand from the maids.

"So... a dress? Something frilly?" he guessed, trying to force down his distasteful expression.

He was more than sick of dresses already, with all the orders he'd received for the coming holiday parties and dances. But if it was for Erza's sake...

"This is just my personal feelings, but..." Hisui began hesitantly. "If I could be given anything at all, I think... memories are the best. I've always received many things, but for me, what I always treasured most was the time my parents spent with me on New Year's. Even though we have so many duties, Papa and Mama always made sure that we celebrated together, as a family, if only for a little while."

A frown had formed on Gray's face as he listened, but it wasn't from disagreement or distaste. Rather, he couldn't help remembering his own family and the holidays they had spent together. Even with Ur, she had insisted that they take a day off from training, despite Gray's sullen protests. Back then, he'd considered it a waste. But now... those were precious memories for him too.

"I feel that... Erza doesn't have too many good memories, you know?" Hisui went, her expression pensive. "It's not just being too practical. She doesn't know about things like giving gifts or holidays, and it's not like she has a family to teach her. If there's anything we can give her, I think... happy memories would be the best."

Gray couldn't disagree, but he made an uncertain face. "So... you mean..."

"You should spend the day with Erza," Hisui explained plainly, smiling. "I asked Commander Kama to give her the day off, but I will be in audiences for most it. So you should go have fun together, just the two of you. Go out and see the city, eat something nice... things like that. Celebrate!"

'But I don't know anything about the city either,' Gray wanted to say. But what kind of excuse was that? He could see the logic behind what Hisui was saying. He thought the same thing, about Erza.

If he didn't know anything, then he just had to find out. If this was really Erza's first New Year celebration like they thought, he'd just have to make it absolutely amazing. ...Somehow.

In fact, Hisui had considered that point. Gray handled himself better than Erza, but he was a complete shut in too, when you got down to it. From her perspective, doing it this way was like getting two birds with one stone. It was just too bad she couldn't go with them — or at least observe the results.

"Celebrate, okay..." Gray said distractedly, already turning over plans in his mind. "Thanks."

He left with an absent wave, completely missing Hisui's slightly smug and amused smile. It wasn't until he was halfway back to his shop that it occurred to him...

'Just the two of us, going around the city... Isn't that basically... a date?!'

~.~.~

Not knowing anything about holiday traditions or countdowns, it hadn't been Erza's intention to stay up late on New Year's Eve. Finishing up her nightly exercises, stretches, and meditation, she had crawled into her bed — into the flower-patterned new sheets that the maids had delivered, with a note from the princess — and settled down with a soft sigh.

Then, the fireworks started.

The low whistle of the first rising flare had made Erza tense and sit up, and the bang of the explosion almost had her reaching for her sword, but the flash of light and color outside her window made her pause. In the distance, a chorus of cheers swelled, mixing with another whistle and another bang.

Fire danced across the sky, leaving Erza staring mesmerized. She didn't quite understand what was happening, but no one else seemed to see anything worth panicking about. No, the distant cheering rose again as a bouquet of fire-flowers burst to life, glimmering for several long moments before fading away again.

Pulling her knees to her chest and wrapping her thick, soft blanket around herself, Erza had slowly settled on her bed, her eyes never leaving the window and the lightshow on the other side.

Crocus continued to shine all through the night. Erza wasn't sure when she had finally drifted off, but it had been well past midnight — as the clocks struck twelve, the sky had been lit up bright as day, like a white night in the far south. It was also well into morning when she finally woke up, groggy from oversleep, the rest of the palace already in full bustle.

She had been given the day off, per Hisui's request, and she took her time stumbling out of bed and getting ready. Sunlight streamed into her empty room, and Erza again wondered what she was supposed to do with all that space. Every member of the Garou Knights was considered equal in rank to a captain in the Katou order, and each was granted personal quarters, but Erza's had remained almost entirely unused, except for the necessities of her daily life and duties.

Looking around now, a few more frivolous things had snuck in without her noticing. The pretty pastel bedding that Hisui had given her, the first sword Gray had modified for her hanging on the wall, the dagger Lambert had handed her before departing to visit his old comrade for the holidays — she ran her fingers over the last, smiling faintly.

A knock on the door made Erza glance over in surprise.

"Erza? Are you awake?" It was Hisui's voice calling out from the other side.

"Yes, Your Highness," Erza answered by rote as she opened the door — and blinked in surprise.

Hisui was decked out in a white gown so large and puffy that she looked about to float away. Hair piled on top of her head and held in place by an elaborate diadem, earring and necklace glinting against her skin, she was obviously ready for the string of public and private receptions that accompanied every major holiday, New Year's more than any other.

She looked very much like a princess, certainly, but she almost didn't look like Hisui.

"That's good, that's good," Hisui said quickly. "I'm sorry, today is busier than expected, so I won't have any time free until evening. But please don't go anywhere. There's... a surprise. Just wait a little while, alright?"

"A surprise?" Erza repeated.

"Your Highness, the next audience!" a servant called out from down the hall.

"I'll be right there!" Hisui called back. "Just wait a little! He'll be here soon!"

She was already waving over her shoulder and hurrying away before Erza even had a chance to reply.

Left standing alone in the hallway, Erza suddenly realized something. "Ah," she made a sound of consternation. "I forgot to give her the present..."

~.~.~

Left to her own devices, Erza wandered the castle aimlessly. How long was she supposed to wait? And who was she waiting for, exactly? She didn't think she liked surprises much.

"I want to go see Gray already," Erza muttered rebelliously, glaring out at the empty training fields.

In her eagerness, she'd taken his gift with her, planning to take off as soon as this mysterious surprise was done with. She hadn't expected it, but she found herself looking forward to seeing his reaction when she gave him her present. Would he smile? He'd probably turn red again too. He got flustered over the oddest things, but there was something very amusing about it.

A smile tugging at her lips, she tilted her head back and looked up at the pale winter sky.

"Erza?"

The tentative sound of her name made her turn in surprise. "Gray? Why are you here?" she asked reflectively, staring at him as he shuffled his feet awkwardly and hesitated to approach.

"The princess didn't tell you?" he mumbled, looking everywhere except Erza.

Erza blinked. "Then… you're the one I'm supposed to be waiting for?" she guessed. "Why? I could have just gone to your place instead." She huffed a little, perhaps somewhat disappointed that this was the surprise. It was only surprising because it was so unsurprising.

"Guh…" Gray made an awkward sound. "Well, it's… I mean… It's about what I'm giving you, for New Years… It's, uh…"

'Why did I ever listen her?' Gray thought. 'This is a terrible idea! This is stupid!'

And it was too late to back down. Erza was watching him an intent, narrow-eyed gaze now, and she wouldn't let it go until she found out the truth.

"It's, uh, not a thing," he pressed on, squeezing his eyes shut as if that would help or he could pretend that this wasn't really happening. "It's…" A date. Except it wasn't, of course. "It's a day out!" Gray finally blurted out. "We're going out for the day! We're going to see a show and then out to eat, then to the shopping district, and then down to the river! You're getting a whole bunch of new experiences! That's your present! Got it?!"

Once he started, the words just tumbled out, until he was yelling aggressive by the end. Even Erza looked taken aback, but only for a moment.

"Got it," she agreed seriously.

"Well... good," Gray replied helplessly. "S-so let's go!"

"Wait," Erza called out, making him freeze in his tracks.

Cold sweat broke out across his back. What if she refused? This was stupid, Hisui was stupid, he was stupid to have ever even considered this...

"This is for you," she said, holding out a small parcel wrapped in deep blue cloth. "Open it."

She placed it gently in his cupped hands and watched as he peeled away the cloth wrapping with an expression of intent concentration. His eyebrows began to rise as the crystal flower inside was revealed, only to draw together uncertainly at the full shape of it.

"This is..." Gray murmured, running his fingertips over the clear petals and the silver clasps. The flower opened smoothly under his touch, a faint glow appearing within. "It's just like Master Ur's."

He wasn't smiling at all. He wasn't turning red and getting embarrassed either. It was Erza's turn to feel a sudden swell of dread.

Had she made a mistake?

"I... I got it in Era," she blurted out. "From another crafter's shop, he said it's a kind of lamp they use in Isvan, so..." She trailed off, wringing her hands nervously. "Do, do you like it?"

Gray didn't answer for a long moment, ducking his head so his expression was hidden. His lips moved soundlessly as he tried to form an answer. "Y-Yeah," he finally managed, closing his hands around the flower lamp. "I like it. I like it a lot. Thank you, it's a great gift."

The uncertain silence from Erza was clearly disbelieving, and Gray forced himself to raise his head and smile. He wasn't lying — he did like it, or he would, once his feelings settled down a little. He had just been taken by surprise. Later, he would be glad to have something that reminded him of home and of Master Ur.

"Thank you," Gray repeated, more firmly. "Now, let's go! It's my turn! I'm going to make sure you get the best date— er, day possible!"

And, grabbing Erza's hand, dragged her along without waiting for her response.

Being the one following was strange, Erza thought. But at least he had cheered up, so wherever they were going and whatever they were doing was fine by her. It wasn't the happy smile or bashful look she had been expecting, but his determined expression suited Gray pretty well too.

Unnoticed, she smiled at his back.

~.~.~

A show, lunch at a popular restaurant, some window shopping, and finally down to the river — that had been Gray's plan for their day out.

He hadn't wanted to compromise or risk missing out on anything, creating a full program with the same single-minded dedication he put into his magical creations. However, he had forgotten to factor in one important point.

Given that he was a near hermit who would go for days without interacting with another human being, Gray had vastly overestimated his endurance for social-type activities.

'I'm so tired... It's no good, I can't go on anymore,' Gray thought, slumping over as he trailed after Erza — who, of course, looked as energetic as she had that morning. Sneaking a glance at her, he shook his head. 'No, no, I've gotta hang in there. It's just one more thing. Once we get to the river, it's just sitting and watching the scenery. I can do this...'

He straightened quickly as Erza glanced back. His awkward, forced smile earned him a questioning look. "Do you want some?" Erza guessed, holding out her strawberry and cream crepe.

"No, I'm good," Gray said. Tapping at the corner of his mouth, he mumbled, "You got a little right here..."

It took a moment for her to understand his meaning, before she reached up to wipe away the smudge of cream on her cheek.

"Is it gone?"

"Y-yeah," Gray stammered, looking away quickly. "Looks like the river is just ahead. Do you want to rent a boat?" According to his young noblewoman customers, that was one of the most popular attractions in the capital. The boats carried colorful lanterns, and watching the lights reflect off the water in the evening was supposed to be a peaceful, enchanting sight — and the sun was setting, just in time.

As the buildings opened up to the riverbank in front of them, the scene was indeed beautiful, a myriad of rainbow lights bobbing gently across the water in the gathering dusk.

A smile tugging at her lips, Erza said, "No, it's alright. Can we just watch from here?"

"Sure," Gray said, smiling back.

The riverbank was full of people, passing by or sitting, but after a few minutes, they found an empty slope where they settled down — Gray with a barely stifled sigh of relief. The boats, large and small, drifted past in the front of them, the chatter and cheering of the crowds flowing and ebbing in the distance.

"Did... did you have a good time?" Gray asked quietly, as Erza finished off the last of her crepe.

"I did," she said simply, turning to him with a smile. "Thank you. It's a great gift. I'll treasure these memories forever."

Memories were important, after all. Sometimes, they were the only thing that couldn't be taken away, and one day they might become the only thing you had left. 'I'll treasure them,' Erza repeated, to herself. 'These warm memories of my first celebration...'

"That's good," Gray sighed in relief. "I wasn't sure if it would be enough. It doesn't feel like a real winter without ice skating, but the lake and the river don't freeze over at all, apparently. The west is so weird."

"Ice skating?" Erza repeated.

"Yeah, it's when a lake freezes enough that you can walk on it, but instead of walking you put on skates, so you can skate across it, like this," Gray explained, gesturing vividly to portray the smooth glide of the skating motion. "There's lots of things you can do in a proper winter. Like skiing, or snowball fights, or building snow castles..."

He pantomimed all of it — or at least, Erza supposed that was what he was doing, though she didn't really recognize the motions at all. His expression was unsuitably serious, making her smile slowly turn into an amused grin.

"But it doesn't even snow here!" Gray concluded, with sulky frustration. "What kind of winter is that?"

"It's snowing," Erza noted, glancing up toward the darkened sky.

The face Gray made at her was priceless — a wounded glare as he assumed he was being teased. He was, but not the way he thought. A single snowflake floated down between them, then another, and another. Slowly, silently, snow was beginning to fall across Crocus.

"I don't believe this," Gray muttered, palming his face. "I give up!"

As he dropped backward onto the slope in defeat, Erza couldn't hold back anymore. Without meaning to, she burst out laughing.

'She's laughing... It's the first time I've seen her laugh,' Gray thought, his eyes widening in surprise as he stared up at her helplessly. He couldn't look away, even as a blush spread across his cheeks and his heart thudded painfully in his chest. 'This is really bad,' he thought. 'This is really, really bad. I think I might really...'

"O-oh, that's right," he blurted out, finally managing to tear his eyes away. "I forgot to say it before... Happy New Year, Erza. Let's make even more good memories this year, okay?"

"Happy New Year," she echoed back. "I'll be counting on you, Gray."

That was the first day of X778 — a memory neither would ever forget.

~.~.~

 **Appendix: Timeline**

 _X686_ \- The "adventurer" band Fairy Tail is founded. (As canon.)

 _X696_ \- Makarov born. (As canon.)

 _X736_ \- Fairy Tail is disbanded by agreement of all current members. (This is when Makarov became second guild master in canon.)

 _X761_ \- Laxus born. (As canon.)

 _X765_ \- Hisui born. Erza born (assumed). (Hisui's age is not canonically given, but because of the seven year gap, this is probably not accurate.)

 _X766_ \- Gray born. (As canon.)

 _X772_ \- Tenrou academy founded by Makarov. (This is when Cana joined the guild in canon.)

 _X774_ \- Deliora appears for the first time, destroying Gray's hometown. (As canon.)

 _X776_ \- The phantom tower is destroyed; Erza washes up on the Fiore coast. (This is when the Tower of Heaven rebellion took place in canon.)

 _X777_ \- Ur defeats Deliora in Brago (winter); Gray comes Fiore (spring); Erza passes the trials to become a knight (summer). (In canon, Gray apparently studies under Ur for less than a year. Since that would be stretching an already suspicious timeline, I changed it to be about three years of tutelage.)

 _X784_ \- to be determined

~.~.~


End file.
